Another Memorial and a Task From Maj

One memorial down and one to go... The event last weekend was very nice - my approximate count was about 75 attending, mostly local friends, astronomy club members, and my workmates from the Mirror Lab. Unfortunately not many of Melinda's nursing co-workers attended, but my sister Linda from Morrison, IL and her husband Lauren drove down to spend a few days with me! It was followed by a reception at her favorite Mexican restaurant, where we all ate and chatted for a few hours (I'm finishing the last of the leftovers tonight!). Our neighbor Susan even had the energy to come play some background piano (she is also getting cancer treatments).

One of tonight's subjects is the memorial for our Illinois family and friends. My sister transported her ashes back to the Midwest, so she is already in Illinois! The memorial will be at Malone's Funeral Home in Geneva, Illinois, at 3pm on Saturday, 15 October, with a rosary read at 2pm. A reception at Malone's will follow. Her obituary is already listed on their website, and you are free to submit remembrances and images there.  I'll be flying up next week, so hope to see all our friends and family there...

One of the tasks sis-in-law Maj left me
was a religious pilgrimage... Melinda wore a Miraculous Medal on a gold chain that she never removed. That original is going to niece Kathy, but she also carried a spare medal in her wallet. Two days after Melinda's passing, I took Maj down to San Xavier Mission and as she sorted her jewelry later, she wanted me to return to pin the medal on the hem of Mary's garment at the Mission. So today was the day for that journey! The Mission, shown at left, is quite spectacular, and undergoing some interior and exterior renovations... The medal is shown at right. Around the border is the wording: "O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!"



Shown at left is the statue of Mary in one of the niches of the Mission. There are a couple things to note - there are already a number of medals attached to her hem at the bottom of the image. Also on her garment is the "Man in the maze" image, a very common image on the Tohono O'odham reservation. Shown in close-up at right, it represents the decisions made in your life's journey. When you eventually reach the center, you pass on the next world.



It took just a few seconds to pin the medal on her hem, make a silent prayer and take a few images to record the deed for Maj. At left is the close-up and a little wider shot at right showing some of the other attached medals. The Mission was hopping for a Thursday afternoon, and folks were queuing up for a chance, so I moved along, moving outside for the wide exterior shot shown above. My quest finished, I returned to town to the mundane tasks of changing insurance, banking account mods and dealing with disability and life insurance claims. A trip to the local Social Security Office tomorrow, and the light at the end of the tunnel approaches...

3D anaglyph of San Xavier from Southeast

3D anaglyph of San Xavier from Southwest

And, full disclosure, as usual, I took a few stereo pairs of the Mission. Time to get out the red/blue 3D glasses! These are hyperstereo images - the separation was typically a meter or two - much wider than normal eye separation, amplifying the 3d effect for architectural studies. At left is a view from the SE, and at right is a similar view from the SW. I also took some stereo pairs from inside, but perhaps will save them for another day. Enjoy!