AT TIM RUSSERT'S WAKE: A LITTLE BIT OF HOW IT SEEMED

So many people here and on Twitter have been talking about this; I thought I'd just tell you what it was like.

I got there at around four.  The line went from the door to a large room at St. Alban's School just next to the National Cathedral, where the wake was, up the stairs and a long walk to the driveway, around to the Cathedral front lawn.  The last little bit was lined with wreaths - some of them very large - of flowers from friends and colleagues.  There were several TV trucks and  groups of reporters and camera people on folding chairs under the trees.

This had begun at 2PM and would last until 9 -- sad, but not dismal.  It was a beautiful day, sunny, breezy, not at all humid - just gorgeous.  And we were all grateful to be there.  It was a generous thing for the Russerts to do in the midst of their own grief -- allowing friends, as well as admirers who'd never met Tim but felt that they knew him anyway -- to act on their own sadness.

I talked to some random people in line with me: a woman who'd not known Tim at all but just wanted to be there and, happily, an old friend and pollster with whom I waited most of the way down the hill.  I hadn't seen him in a long time, so we caught up on our lives and our kids and our sadness.  I started to tell him about all of Tim's kindnesses to my boys when they were little; he started to tell me about his son's internship at Meet the Press.  Any one of Tim's friends would have had a dozen stories just like those.

All along the way, very kind staff and parents from the school, where Tim's son Luke had gone, were there with name tags that said "volunteer" under their names and offers of help, directions, a place to leave a note for the family, ice water - just gracious and kind.  I saw, as we arrived in the room itself, that the casket, covered with white flowers with a note that said "Love, Coco and Luke" was being guarded by what looked like young soldiers out of uniform.  I've since learned that they are high school classmates of Luke's who will stand guard throughout the night.

We made our way past the casket in two lines, one on each side.  Tim's wife Maureen Orth was there, thanking people for coming.  Then we were out, in a hallway, where another volunteer offered us the opportunity to leave a note on paper that would be bound into a book.  The line was long, and each person spent considerable time - the comments were anything but brief. 

Just at the end, as we made our way out, stood this photo, the one I used yesterday, up on an easel.  I was so glad to see it there - not because I'd used it too but because it was a declaration, which I'd felt and clearly his family felt, that the joy and mischief of this man was what we should take with us back into the world.

Tomorrow there is a small funeral and a memorial service at the Kennedy Center which I'm sure will be amazing.  And all of it will help those who loved and admired this larger-than-life presence deal with the reality of his absence. 

I want to say that, because of all the posts on Twitter and here on in the blogorama, I felt I was representing many of us and left a note that said as much.  It was a privilege to be there.

Comments

[Cynthia Samuels]

Thanks Pamela. Just went to your blog - your family is adorable.

[Pamela]

This was amazing and beautifully written.
~Pamela

[Cynthia Samuels]

Maureen was greeting people when I was there - I guess someone from the family was out there at all times. Amazing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Duane]

I was there earlier this afternoon and your words describing the atmosphere summed it up beautifully. Once I was in I was greeted by his neice Jen and she was most hospitable and very kind as was all the family I got to pay my respects to. What a classy family. The real, human qualities we all saw from Tim were obviously a family trait and when I saw Luke, boy did I see Tim.
I met Tim back in the late 80's and last saw him in 2004 but managed to keep in touch periodically thanks to the Bills and a story about my Dad.
We have lost such a real and genuine human being which these days are very hard to come by but the world is now a better place because Tim Russert graced us with his presence and it is infectious.
Thank You for posting this for it really gave an accurate memory of the day.

[Matt]

I was there too this evening. It was beautiful and so sad and so surreal. His son Luke was greeting people inside. I shook his hand and said, "Your father was a professional hero of mine." Luke responded, "Mine too."

Rest in peace Dear Tim.