Into the Night

I shut the door to the taxi after paying the fare and walked up to the front door of Robin's home in the rain.  As I made the transition from the wet, dark exterior to the inside where it was warm and brightly lit it was obvious that more than just those of us that rode in the taxi were present.  Along with Robin, Mag, Melissa, Candi and Jo were some friends of Melissa's:  Patrick Rowley, Luke Meehan and Erin Copping.  A couple of the neighbors stopped by to pay their respects, some had been at the service that afternoon.  The tools and resources we had used to prepare the booklets and slide presentation were tucked away in corners of the living and dining rooms.  Although we had all certainly had enough to drink at the Pappas' home we didn't waste any time opening a couple bottles of wine and offering beer to anyone that wanted.  At one point, Patrick and Luke made a trip to the bottle shop to replenish the supply.  There were still a few surviving arrangements of flowers around the house, given in the spirit of sympathy and support, but which I had personally come to loathe.  Hearkening back to the beginning of this nightmarish week the non-stop arrival of flowers at Robin's home seemed a constant reminder of our heartbreak and sorrow.  The temporary nature of cut flowers sends the wrong message, to me, as they are so beautiful and fragrant when they first arrive but quickly fade away into a dying heap of bad smells.  I know the intent of the senders is pure and heartfelt but why this tradition continues evades my sensibilities.  I'm sure I am in the minority on this subject.

As we settled into a number of separate conversations the suggestion that we get some take-away food arose.  After all, I didn't remember having anything to eat at the Pappas's home as I was busy trying to engage as many of the folks in attendance as possible and figured the last time I had eaten was earlier that morning with Candi at the sidewalk cafe in Paddington.  Luke and Patrick volunteered to make a run to the local Thai restaurant to fetch dinner for the rest of us and when they returned with bags of aromatic food we assembled at the dining room table and proceeded to devour all that they had brought.  We told Geoff stories, reminisced about other times we were together and mostly enjoyed each other's company.  The subject soon turned to what we would do for Candi's final day in Sydney.

Candi had a flight out home of Sydney the following evening.  We had been speculating for the past few days about making sure we did something enjoyable before she left Australia.  We discussed taking a trip to Manly on the fairy and any number of other tourist oriented ventures.  We finally decided that a trip to the zoo was in order.  Sydney's Taronga Zoo is situated like none other in the world across the harbor from Circular Quay and the methodology for travelling there included a boat ride across the harbor, past the Opera House, adjacent to the famous Harbor Bridge.  The weather prediction for the next day was consistent with the fine conditions we enjoyed on this day.  We agreed that Candi and I would meet whomever else wanted to participate in the zoo trip at the Quay in the morning.  We spent a little while reminiscing about previous trips to the zoo and some anecdotal events.

As the evening progressed we started noticing the music that had always been playing in the background.  I believe the source was an IPOD attached to some speakers in the living room with a very eclectic mix of tunes.  We had our fair share of drinks and at one point Melissa, Candi and I started to dance to "Everyday People" right there in Robin's living room.  After a couple more songs discretion took over and the decision was made for Candi and I to head back to Darlinghurst in order to rest up for the long day ahead.   When we stepped outside after saying goodbye to everyone into the now clear skies I noticed how the temperature had dropped considerably and was happy I had my suit coat.  While making sure I had the keys to the townhouse, I felt the hard copy of my eulogy for Geoff in my pocket.  I thought back over the events of the day and had the sense that what we had done would have conformed to what we believed were Geoff's wishes had we only known what they were.  I was sure he was smiling at us as broadly as he always had.