"Concieved in a Mortuary," Wally Hartwell

Nick,
Here are a few anecdotes. I hope I can get Frankie to jog the memory & add. Hope this helps. You're going to be a dad? True?


When your mom & dad worked for me at the mortuary, and lived at the mortuary, Dorothy suffered terribly from morning sickness. She was, of course, carrying you. I remarked to her after one of her "woe is me" comments on her condition that "what do you expect? That little bundle you have was conceived in a mortuary!!" Her response was typical Dorothy......."Do you have any idea how quiet it gets around here at night?"


Almost everyone loved Dorothy. I say almost because Dorothy always said EXACTLY what was on her mind. If that meant that it was your turn to hear her tell you that you were out of line or had treated someone improperly, then you had better be prepared to make it right or Dorothy would remind you the next time she saw you. Since she was right 99% of the time, you had to love her for it. Dorothy would dismiss those that couln't handle the heat in the kitchen with her "See if I care" that followed her everywhere.


When your dad found out about Dorothy's final prognosis, he asked me to go with him to tell her that she only had three weeks to live. Dorothy was asleep when we got to the hospital, so we carefully practiced our approach to talk with her for two hours. Wayne had it down pat. When we walked into the room I watched  as Dorothy opened the conversation with "How much time do I have? Wayne's response, "three weeks! " Dorothy's retort....Well, it's been a good ride.....Wally, I want you to do my eulogy, and I want it to be funny. So much for 2 hours of practice!!