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Sunday, February 10, 2008, 2008

 

We have had a low-key (entirely at home) kind of weekend but it started out and has been infused with sadness at Bernice Tutt’s passing on Friday night. Bernice was a good friend of Daddy’s for many years since he moved to this area, and Mama and I have been lucky to get to know her as well. Bernice was funny and strong, always spoke her mind, and she adored me. Bernice turned 98 last year (photo on right is the cake Baba and Mama shared with Bernice at our home).  She was so active – in mind and in body. She continued to work out with a personal trainer several days a week, read the New York Times from cover to cover (she cut out and sent us the announcement of Jo Ayi in the play she was in last year), and just last year she almost walked down a runway of models (granted, the last feat was by accident when Mama and Bernice went to a celebration for the opening of the hair salon, Gem, and they took a wrong turn!).  Bernice was the first one to come visit me the day I got home from the hospital. She arrived just a couple hours after I arrived home.  Here (to the left) I am that afternoon in Bernice’s arms (with her wearing her breast cancer awareness pin). Bernice’s personality was lots of fun.  The first time Mama gave her a copy of this photo on the left (and thought Bernice would love it), Bernice told Mama to take back the photo and airbrush out the wrinkles! Among many other accomplishments in her life, Bernice was a survivor of breast cancer. She was a philanthropic person who gave lots to a breast cancer center in California where she lived for several years and she also was a donor to Baba’s college, which is how Baba first got to meet her.  Before Mama and Baba started dating, Baba used to play Scrabble with Bernice almost every weekend.  (Bernice usually almost always beat Baba; one of his proudest moments was when she has one lemon drop too many and he was able to beat Bernice . . . He was still bragging about it a few days later when he and Mama when on a date and Mama asked why he had such a cat-ate-the-canary grin on his face!).  Bernice loved holding me and seeing me grow. In fact, she and Mama where the first ones to see me roll over! All three of us were over her place visiting. Baba had turned his back just for a moment and there I did it . . . ROLLED over right before the amazed eyes of Bernice and my Mama. On Friday night, Mama spoke with her at 7 pm and she still wanted to try to see me a last time. We made arrangements to call her on Saturday to drop by, but then a few hours later we learned she had passed away at 9 pm. We will miss Bernice, her wit, her sense of humor and her kindness to me and to our family.