We found our way to Willow Creek and Aunt Dofe’s Hall of Recent Memory. Weeds grow from the sidewalk and the windows could use a wash, but it is a fine building. Peering through the smudged windows into the world of Dave Kirk, founder of Aunt Dofe’s was overwhelming. From the outside it seemed to be a stilled place; industry arrested. The neighbor, Chris had a key, and in the short walk from his house to the door of Aunt Dofe’s there was no question of how much Dave Kirk was loved and how much he is missed.
I am not sure I remember which door Chris unlocked or any particulars of the transition from being on the outside of Aunt Dofe’s Hall of Recent Memory peering in to being inside of Dave Kirk’s world. It may not have happened immediately on crossing the threshold, but at some point I was aware of Dave Kirk himself. I don’t really know what I think of ghosts or communion with the dead and what I think doesn’t really matter. Aunt Dofe’s Hall of Recent Memory is not dead. It became less still the longer I was there. What at first seemed a mausoleum… a memorial to someone much loved… gradually became a living place ready to continue.