![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
funerals are sucky
Dec. 30th, 2016 09:49 pmGot home from Gramps' funeral yesterday. It was wonderful to see my family (everyone but three grandson's-in-law and two great-grands made it) but still really really hard.
I flew out on tuesday got in around 5 and change. Met at the airport by Uncle John and taken to "the Village" aka the community where G&G live...or I guess just G now. flights out were uneventful, dinner was institutional spaghetti. There were rounds of stories told and I cried like the waterworks I am. All went back and took over the hotel lobby for cards, beers, company and laughs. Gramps favorite way to be with us all. Wednesday was the funeral which felt kind of abstract to me as a non-church-regular. Granny was adamant that she didn't want anyone from the family speaking as that felt showy so mostly the pastor took the obituary and re-phrased things so that they were incorrect. Made one of my Uncles (happily married for like 20 years) single, changed schools, gave him new hobbies and other silly errors. They were expecting around 50 or so people and 150 showed up. that was really touching. The chruch guild that was promised to take care of laying out the food never came so Aunt Ruth and I scrambled to get that done without Granny realizing. Mostly I hid in the corner and cried, I didn't feel like making small talk with strangers and seeing the "box" there was hard. About ten years ago when G&G had a big pine tree taken down outside the vermont cottage Granny was only consoled with it's removal by having it made into the two "boxes" and they've sat in storage...Granny's still is. morbid? totally.
After the service we went back to the village and looked at old family photos, played card games and relaxed till dinner.
Thursday Molly (sister) and I flew back to Philly together via two very bumpy turbulent flights. Got home exahusted and nauseated. But Chris (brother-in-law) and my two neices met us for cheesesteaks and I felt a sense of balance in the world. As one generation ages and we say goodbye, a new one flourishes with all the joy and silliness that brings...still...how long till I stop crying anytime I think about him?
I flew out on tuesday got in around 5 and change. Met at the airport by Uncle John and taken to "the Village" aka the community where G&G live...or I guess just G now. flights out were uneventful, dinner was institutional spaghetti. There were rounds of stories told and I cried like the waterworks I am. All went back and took over the hotel lobby for cards, beers, company and laughs. Gramps favorite way to be with us all. Wednesday was the funeral which felt kind of abstract to me as a non-church-regular. Granny was adamant that she didn't want anyone from the family speaking as that felt showy so mostly the pastor took the obituary and re-phrased things so that they were incorrect. Made one of my Uncles (happily married for like 20 years) single, changed schools, gave him new hobbies and other silly errors. They were expecting around 50 or so people and 150 showed up. that was really touching. The chruch guild that was promised to take care of laying out the food never came so Aunt Ruth and I scrambled to get that done without Granny realizing. Mostly I hid in the corner and cried, I didn't feel like making small talk with strangers and seeing the "box" there was hard. About ten years ago when G&G had a big pine tree taken down outside the vermont cottage Granny was only consoled with it's removal by having it made into the two "boxes" and they've sat in storage...Granny's still is. morbid? totally.
After the service we went back to the village and looked at old family photos, played card games and relaxed till dinner.
Thursday Molly (sister) and I flew back to Philly together via two very bumpy turbulent flights. Got home exahusted and nauseated. But Chris (brother-in-law) and my two neices met us for cheesesteaks and I felt a sense of balance in the world. As one generation ages and we say goodbye, a new one flourishes with all the joy and silliness that brings...still...how long till I stop crying anytime I think about him?
