Dear Aunt Lucy,

I haven't sent a proper letter for quite a while, and this one will be a bit rushed. I have to get my car to the shop for a long-overdue checkup and then bike to the gym at UBC for a long-overdue workout with my sometime exercise partner.

Yesterday was the memorial service for Aunt Betty. The minister, who I guess had never known her, began by referring to her as "Amanda" (her real first name), but soon switched to "Amanda/Betty" and finally to just "Betty". Alex gave a very nice summary of her life, and how especially he valued their time together when he was to only son not yet in school. Teresa and I used a couple of the handkerchiefs you sent to wipe our eyes during a very moving talk by Elaine (Ted's wife) about how much Betty had meant to her. She also reminded us of Betty's intellectual and ecological ideas - I remember as a child being startled to see that they had some classical music records (!), and feeling sorry for the boys because instead of a proper lawn they just had what I thought of as messy trees and bushes (what we'd now call 'eco-scaping').

I was also reminded that a Christmas gift from Betty was what got me started making fancy desserts. She gave me a little apron, a mixing bowl, a package of red jello and a bag of marshmallows with a recipe on the side for a foamy pink concoction. Here's a picture of where that ultimately led - a raspberry Bavarian cake for Monday's thanksgiving dinner. (The mint leaves I garnished it with went very nicely with the tablecloth you embroidered.)

The trashy novel you sent ("Filthy Rich"?) appealed to the very lowest part of my taste in reading - I read it straight through and then passed it on to my sisters.

Mom is being quite a bit more active lately - up and down out of her wheelchair, and doing her knee exercises. They haven't heard yet from the Joint-Replacement Clinic at Lions Gate Hospital about an assessment appointment, so I'm going to call them today to check that they know she's waiting for one.

I'm off Sunday for a week in California. Mainly a conference at Asilomar - have you ever been there? It's a State Park in Monterey that's also a wonderful rustic conference center. The conference I'm going to is one of a series that began as a birthday celebration for a colleague (he's now 70 and still an active researcher). it's particularly great because the organizers have never allowed anyone to show slides. In the past we've been given 20 minutes with a whiteboard and some pens (the modern equivalent of a 'chalk talk', but this time we're only getting 15 minutes and some big paper pads.

Mom says you don't think you'll be coming out here for Christmas. We'll miss you - maybe we should organize a flying visit from some of us to you instead.

XXX

Rosie