Joan Brophy Kelly 1923-2005

My grandmother died in her sleep last night.

She had been incommunicative at the hospital, but when the hospice nurse was getting her set up at home last night, the nurse asked her if she knew where she was, and my grandmother clearly replied “Yes, at home.”

So it was pretty clear that she was holding on so that she wouldn’t die in a hospital. Good for her.

She taught me a lot — she fostered my love of genre fiction, took me to see Star Trek movies (she always said that Scotty was the ‘perfect man’, which I made sure to tell Jimmy Doohan when I met him), helped me when I needed help (even into adulthood), taught me how to mix the perfect Scotch and Water, and made me appreciate that when “the sun was over the yardarm” (4-ish to 5-ish) it was time for cocktails and nosh.

I’ll miss you, Brophy.