Reading Sherry's obituary sparked many memories. I must have been five or six when I met Sherry. She was Ned's beautiful new girlfriend, who came over to our house in Berkeley. As others have noted, Sherry was extremely kind, and we liked her right away. There was a lot of interest in where this new relationship would go, and it was quite exciting when Ned and Sherry announced they were getting married. Although it was over fifty years ago, I have a few memory glimpses of their wedding, which was held at a fancy hotel in San Francisco, and we had oysters on the half shell. Sherry had a beautiful dress and looked like a movie star. Ned was not so bad either. He was most impressive to us, however, because he drove a fun sports car, and he was filled with energy and lived in "the city." He was cool. They were both kind and inclusive of us, Ned's brother's kids, and it was special when they came over. From our first meeting in about 1970 or 71 came years and years of gatherings on Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and other events. Our grandparents were always part of these family events, and Sherry was especially thoughtful with both of them. She also became an important caregiver for our grandmother, Emily, when Emily was on our own and especially when she needed a lot of love and support in the last years of her life.
Rebecca and Jessica were also, of course, soon to join these events in 1975 and 1978, and it's been joyful to watch both of them grow up and now to have their own children. The pictures here show beautifully the relationships that Sherry built with her grandchildren, and she often shared stories about them when we saw Ned and Sherry, and the girls weren't with us.
Many years after their 1972 wedding, Ned and Sherry came to my wedding. They also gave us the loveliest of wedding presents: a couple nights at the luxurious and beautiful Ventana in Big Sur. Their presence throughout the wedding weekend was wonderful, and I have memories of Jessica writing and singing a song for us and Rebecca up on this raised platform with Rachel dancing the night away. (As our family is wont to do, we also have photographic memories of all these moments and even Ned's video of our wedding!)
Over the years, my husband, Matt, and I had several opportunities to spend time with Sherry and with Ned and Sherry. Twice Sherry brought my mom, Mary Ellen, to Asia, when we were living there in the mid-1990s. With Sherry's travel experience (and her good airline benefits), she made it possible for Mary Ellen to make these trips and to do so with a first rate travel companion. Ned and Sherry have also taken Mary Ellen on some other wonderful trips and stayed very close to her after my dad died in 1990.
Ned and Sherry have visited us where we live now in Redmond, WA. They even were here once on a grandparents' and special friends' day at our son Alex's school and stepped right into that role, spending some time in his classes and at an assembly. Ned also had a good time beating Alex at tennis.
The last time I saw Sherry she was just returning with Ned, Jessica, and Jessica's family from a cruise to Alaska. As always, she was kind and patient and enthusiastic about their latest adventure, one that both of Jessica's boys were able to enjoy.
I am grateful I grew up with such a devoted and caring extended family. Sherry was a huge part of our family. I am certain that when we next gather, we will face how enormous this loss is and how much we feel Sherry's absence. I look forward to all of us being together, maybe even without wearing masks, so that we can celebrate Sherry's life and remember our many years together as a family. Ned and Rebecca will bring good wine (Ned may even load up and bring his large cooler on wheels, as he did for many, many years for our family gatherings; he might bring us some nice things from Costco, too), we will cook and eat some delicious food (maybe something from Jessica's garden or a lovely apple tart from Rebecca's oven), and we will gather around Mary Ellen's dining room table, as we have so many times before, and we will spend the evening toasting Sherry and sharing our memories of her. Maybe we will also head to the piano, and Rachel can accompany some loud family singing, including "Leaving on a Jet Plane."
PS I am amazed that Sherry was 20 years old when she headed off and launched her long career working for the airlines. We have our own 20-year-old child/young adult right now, and it's hard to imagine him with the confidence, executive functions, and clarity about himself to join the working world and take care of himself as fully as I am sure Sherry did, back in 1965. I predict she never lost her passport! Or was late to work!
