Saturday, February 19, 2011

Pictures from Today

Today our family attended the memorial service for Dr. Charles Martin, our family friend and pediatrician, who was an amazing doctor and highly regarded by our local birth community (see my tribute here).

I could say that it was a lovely service, and I'm sure it was, but the truth was that I didn't hear a word of it. Being that we were about 5 minutes late, we arrived to an office that was not just "standing room only" but "standing room outside only." We stood outside in the rain, with a lot of other attendees, looking through the glass, for about 15 minutes until someone took pity on all of us and shepherded us into the back office, where more and more people piled in until we were stuffed like sardines into the proverbial can. Unfortunately, there was no sound, so we ended up standing elevator-style in the back for the entire service, hearing an occasional sentence fragment from the front.

In some ways, I was glad about that, being that I am still very upset over Dr. Martin's death, and I have a bad habit of bawling at funerals anyhow. But I also feel like we missed something very precious... so I regretted it at the same time. Next time, they definitely need to hold a service at a bigger location! (Not that there will be another time, but still!)

Anyhow, the service was highly successful. Several hundred people attended, and the service consisted of about 90 minutes of "open mic", with people telling stories of their time with Dr. Martin. There were colleagues, staff, students, and clients present - all kinds. It was really touching to see people in tears for their doctor and colleague - a reflection of what a great guy he was.

My husband went in after the service was over, and took some pictures, so here they are:







It was a lovely outpouring of support!

It hasn't been made clear yet whether another doctor will be taking the practice, or if the practice is dissolving. We'll probably find out in the next couple of weeks.

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