I remember laughing so hard while taking this photo. It was Thanksgiving 2007 and although I’d known Romilly casually for a few years, we were becoming closer friends as she and Perry (my son’s godfather) moved from “that was weird but fun” to “wow, let’s keep doing this”.
My family had recently moved to Amsterdam, which was cold and lonely compared to our world back in Paris, and we were very excited to have Perry, Romilly, Carmella and the girls come up for Thanksgiving. It was snowing that evening and our small apartment was bursting with company. Of course the busiest place was the tiny kitchen where this photo was take. Somehow Romilly - who was always kind and generous and open to doing just about anything for a friend - got stuck taking care of the stuffing. I love how she smiles behind clenched teeth while using her long elegant fingers to pinch together odd bits stuffing in a plastic bag; despite all the will in the world, Romilly was just not a Stove-Top Stuffin’ kind of gal!
I hope to never forget Romilly’s beautiful voice, her wonderful laugh, her rather large feet, her gorgeous style, her wicked humor and the way she made me and my family feel very welcome in her world. I feel immensely fortunate to have known her, and terribly sad that she’s gone.
