She’d encapsulated the human interest of everyday life
(in 600 words or less) through her weekly column,
“They Do It Every Time”—
leaving behind a legacy of smiles
in the way that stand-up comics left behind laughs.
She closed the last chapters of someone’s life
with biographical narratives
that became reverse baby books & treasured keepsakes
by their descendants rather than their ancestors.
When she closed the last chapter of her life,
writing not her obituary
but a poem that was a celebration of her life,
she realized that even though her children
couldn’t tell her life story better than she could,
they could convey what she’d meant to them
better than she ever could.