Rozie's House
Installation ; Rozie's House, inkjet prints and poem
My long-time and dear friend Rosalind (aka Roz and Rozie) died early morning on September 15, 2014, after a two-year battle with cancer. I stayed with her as the hospice nurse gently bathed Rozie, dressed her in a clean nightie and tucked her into bed. Rozie looked as though she was having a lovely nap.
A woman from the funeral home arrived. She carefully moved her into the mortuary bag and onto a stretcher. As she wheeled the body through the living room towards the front door, the woman paused to ask me if I wanted the bag to be open or zipped over her head when she wheeled outside. I thought it an odd question and I can’t tell you what my answer was.
Alone in the still and quiet, I felt Rozie’s presence lingering and began to take photographs; her books, her art, tabletop tableaus, her photographs, flowers, light and shadow, her chair left as it was when last pushed away from the table.
Soon family and friends arrived with condolences, casseroles, and pizza. Chairs were moved, doors opened and closed, voices buzzed and murmured in conversations, telling stories of Rozie in past tense as her presence became diluted and diminished.
And now, ten years later, I look at these photographs and clearly see and remember that this is Rozie’s house.