Even though Dick passed away on May 29, 2005, we were not able to have a memorial service for him until July 2nd, as we wanted to have all the kids together at the same time for more than just a day. It was decided that, since Dick hated funerals, it would be an outdoor memorial, followed by a picnic. As Eric said, for someone who didn’t believe he was a very social person, there were a total of 36 people who attended, not counting myself. Dick’s former sisters-in-law, Gale and Jenny, and his former brothers-in-law, Bailey and Walt, attended. Members of my religion, as well as my place of employment came to be supportive. Friends and relatives from Elmira joined us, as well. It was a beautiful day and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. People shared their memories and thoughts and this sharing helped us see the many sides of Dick Tracy.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, July 6th, I left for Woods Hole, MA (Cape Cod) with my friend Diane Russell, and Dick’s childhood friend Howard Broock. Howard was part of the “Sooper Snoopers” science club in high school for which we held reunions every two years. Last summer, Dick had been in good health and really enjoyed the reunion. Howard had to miss the memorial service because he had a wedding to photograph and couldn’t get out of it. He was concerned that he would not be able to have closure. I offered him a ride to the Cape so that he could join Charlie and Ellen Wyttenbach, who have the house down there in the summer, and Dave Prentiss, another Snooper who came down from Canada for the event. The drive down made us nervous. Our plan was to do the scattering of Dick’s ashes on Thursday morning, July 7th, but it rained quite heavily on the way and the forecast was that it was to rain again on Thursday. It had stopped raining by the time we met up with “my piper” Chris Brumfield, of Waynesboro, VA. (For those who do not know, I am a member of the Clan MacThomas of North America and Chris is their piper. He offered to come and play the bagpipes when we did the scattering of the ashes.) Chris followed us to the Wyttenbach’s house in Woods Hole.

Once settled in, we decided to discuss the most appropriate way to do our little ceremony, considering the impending bad weather. Charlie had checked the newspaper for the tides and we decided to go down to the Nobska Lighthouse and see what the situation looked like. Since the plan was to scatter the ashes from below the lighthouse off the large boulders, we needed to see how accessible this would be for Chris, as well as Charlie and Dave, who would be scattering the ashes. Howard would be located a bit higher up taking photos, and Ellen would be down near them with the camcorder. Diane and I would be near the very top with the other camcorder, as the path would be too difficult for me to negotiate. As Chris, Dave and Charlie wandered among the boulders, analyzing their options, I was taken with how hazy it was. Some of Dick’s favorite photos were taken during the haze. He liked the ethereal appearance of the boats and ferries. It was decided that we should try to do it that evening, around 7:00 p.m. Sunset was about 7:30.

I took Chris and Diane out to Falmouth, past the Clam Shack, around the marina, back up to Rte. 28, down into Woods Hole (proper), around the square and showed them all the points of interest on the way before returning to Charlie’s and Ellen’s house. While we were traveling, Chris said when it was announced that Dick had passed away, two chairs were folded and leaned against the dinner table to signify the loss of a clan member. (Marriage makes one a clan member.) When he said that, it brought tears to my eyes, I was so moved. It was early enough in the day for us to sit around and visit, getting to know Chris and re-establishing our own friendships, and everyone getting to know Diane. We decided to eat later, as it was going to take Chris 45 minutes to get dressed in his piper’s regalia, and he also didn’t like to pipe on a full stomach. Ellen put out some fruit, crackers and cheese, which made a nice stopgap. Charlie, Dave, Howard, Dick and Tony D’Abbracci were kind of like the “five musketeers” when they were in school, and had remained extremely close all these years since they graduated in 1950. Tony was unable to make it to the Cape for the event, so he had asked me what kind of flowers I liked, as he wanted to send some through Ellen. I told him that Dick had courted me with yellow roses, so he had her pick up a dozen lovely yellow roses. In discussing how we wanted the event to go, the subject of tossing the roses into the water came up. After some discussion, it was determined that I would pull petals from the outside of each of the roses and keep the inner bud. I placed the petals in a plastic container. At one point, I heard Dave mention something about how it would be easier to carry the ashes if they were not in the heavy wooden box.

When I was down in my room later, I decided that I wanted to be the one to open the urn myself…alone. It was my one last moment alone with Dick. I needed to do this. I had brought the appropriate screwdriver and carefully removed the screws from the bottom of the urn that Walt Bowes had made. I barely removed the lid and the sight of the bag of ashes triggered a great rush of grief, which I gratefully accepted. I’d been blocking my emotions so much since May 29th, knowing that I would have to wait so long for closure, that it seemed like a great relief to be able to cry hard for a few moments. Diane came into the room and rubbed my back while I cried, not saying anything…just letting me do what I needed to do at that moment.

Joy MacThomas had loaned me a MacThomas tartan sash (two, actually, to make a choice from) and crest pin to wear for the ceremony. I really didn’t know which to choose or how to do it, so I called on Chris’ expertise. He chose the long, wider sash and suggested we make a slight turn in it and pin it to my shoulder, draping the longer half in back. I liked how it looked. When Chris came out of his room, all dressed in his MacThomas piper regalia (pictured to the right), my mouth fell open. He looked magnificent. He was a bit discouraged that he had forgotten his glengarry cap, but we all told him he looked just fine without it. This was the first time Chris would be piping for a clan member, and I felt quite honored.

When we got to the lighthouse, Diane and I set up the camcorder while the others made their way down the steep path to the water. Howard set his camera up off to the left, part way down. Ellen stood off to the right, closer to the bottom. Dave took the tote bag that had the ashes and flower petals in it, and he and Charlie made their way to a spot on the boulders where they felt they had safe footing. Chris found a flat, though wet, boulder on which to stand and waited for everyone to get into place. The haze was thicker and the ferryboat was coming back from Martha’s Vineyard. This was Dick’s favorite time to walk, after the heat of the day, when the cool breeze came up off of Vineyard Sound. It was all so appropriate. Dave took out the bag of ashes and a small plastic container Chris began to play “Hector, the Hero” on the pipes, turning very slowly on the rock. Once in position, Dave scattered the first scoop of ashes as Chris played my request, “The Skye Boat Song.” (I turned and cried in Diane’s arms.) He did half the ashes and then gave the scoop to Charlie to do the other half. Finally, as the near-white ashes caused the water to look creamy, they pulled out the plastic container of yellow rose petals. They took turns sprinkle the ashes on the creamy water as Chris finished up with “Amazing Grace.” Once the ashes and petals had been scattered, Charlie and Dave turned and faced Chris as he completed his song. Once done, he turned and looked up at me, making a bow to signify the completion. Dick would have been so pleased.

After dinner, Chris brought up his shuttle pipes, which amounts to a bag and box, with the mouthpiece and the part he fingers. It had three levers that allowed for different drones, but allowed one to play it in the house and not blast everyone away with the sound. He played several numbers for us, which we all really appreciated. Charlie videotaped Chris while he played. The next day, I had hoped to get up early and go out with Chris and Diane and Ellen down into Woods Hole to wander around, but they didn’t wake me. They knew that I had no sleep the previous night and was absolutely exhausted, and still had to drive back to NY that day, so they made the decision NOT to wake me. When I got up, Charlie was just fixing his breakfast, and they were just returning from downtown.

All in all, as painful as the whole process was, it was the kick-start I needed for start my grieving process after holding it in for over a month. Chris was an absolute delight and we all agreed that he had a lot in common with Dick. We all commented how their similarities and how Dick would have loved to have known him. I will always be grateful for the gift of my piper.