Well, I used to do this a lot, but as I've gotten older it's harder to do it, to get in front of so many people. But I purposely this time didn't write. I haven't brought anything because I wanted to be present for the moment.

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And I'm going to keep this very brief. And I'm going to tell you what I'm gonna remember about Will, and so that you can keep me aligned.

 

The first thing I'm gonna tell you is, why am I the first to give the memories? There's something that I think Susan knows this, but many of you may not know I'm probably the only person to sleep with Will, or I actually probably. Well, yeah. So the only male, the male, probably. And I'll explain that later in one of the memories.

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The next thing is, I just wanted to tell you what my special connection to Will was, and then I'll share three pictures that I have taken with my mind's eye from moments with him.

 

My special connection is that of the cousins which Will and I are, what we share is a missing grandfather. And I mention this, because if you're missing a grandmother, father, you may not kind of know what you're missing, but for some of the grandchildren here of Will and those who identify with him as a grandfather. Imagine growing up without all that he provided you. I don't mean that to be a sad thing. I mean for you to recognize what a treasure it is to have a grandfather that you get to got to know and spend time with

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The three pictures I'm going to talk about actually, these pictures exist somewhere, but I can't find them. And I decided that it's better for you to take these pictures with you, as I will describe them.

 

And the first one talks about our relationship. And it happened right up on that porch But it was your father's 90th Is that about 1994? Well, was he was born in 1904? Okay? It's whenever it was, and well, it doesn't matter, he was old.

 

He was still with us, and it was right there on the porch and these are not great stories. They're just moments. So there's no big climax here, and to to the left of stage was  Uncle William, and to the right of stage was Francie in her later stages, and Ellie was right next to her, and there were others of you who were probably there and then performing was the 3 youngest boys of the 3 brothers.

 

And that was there were Will, me and Bruce. And we sang, we wrote and and sang and performed a song about the 3 Brothers based on the 3 Jolly Coachmen. And you'll be happy to know I can't remember the lyrics of what we wrote. They were terrible, but it was a memorable moment, and what I've always remembered about this is that I had no talents for singing or writing, music, or anything. But I had a role to play, and Will and Bruce recognized that. And we did it together. The three of us are a tribute to the three  brothers who didn't have a father.

 

The second picture that I would leave with you is the trip. This will explain why I'm 1 of the few to have slept with Will. I think at Allison's suggestion we were visiting, and he, we said that I was driving cross country. and I said on a complete, having no thought that it would happen, said, yeah, I mean, I'd love to have somebody do it with me. Drive from California out here in New York, as it turned out. And he he said, well, yeah, I could do that right there. I made the decision, looked over at Susan. She said, Okay, and it happened. So I learned what a bundling board is that made the bed that we had suitable for the two of us.

 

But what I would say about that that trip is that I learned what I finally came to know what an artist is, because Will had said he'd come, but he wanted to practice his art every day, and when we got to Mono Lake, if any of you know it, I want you to visualize this now. It's a fabulous lake out in the middle of the California desert. Looming white clouds and a walkway out in this beautiful lake, and Will takes a chair and easel out there, and he sits himself down.

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And you can see I'm behind him. You can see this incredible bit of nature, and then you see that the canvas and you see Will in front of it, sitting with it, creating it, with this paint and the knee behind, and I took a picture, and it captured a moment that I was just taken with. I've always remembered that it was the portrait of an artist as a middle aged man. 

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The last memory is that yurt and I conceived of and acquired, and was the general contractor for the years that's over at our camp now, but I depended on many fabulous, many cousins to do this, and if you've ever built anything, you know, the great moment is comes when you have the door up. It's it's a fine art.

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And I was very nervous, but we I had lots of skill. I had both Chris's both, and younger, and lots of people who knew how to do things. I didn't, so I kept saying, No, no, we can't do that. We have to get this right, and Will was among them.

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And at one moment, in stunned silence. Will just takes his driver, walks up to the thing. He's all frozen and then open, the door swings open and then swings close. It's perfect. And I learned so much about how to be in the moment and admire somebody who knew what to do in front of me.