Quick roundup.
Tired and kind of ew. It was Victor's funeral today and it was pretty awful. But then again, it was always gonna be and I think everyone's hanging in there.
Nana and Joyce were much better when I left than they were when they arrived and it was terrible and weird to see them that way because... Victor was always so protective of them both. There was a moment afterwards - because we hadn't really had a chance to see Nana before the service - where she just clung to us and cried and it just... broke my heart, you know, to see my Nana that way. He raised her, carried her through most of their escape from Burma because she was so small and... yeah. Nana's words in the speech she gave were that he was her father figure, but really he was her dad.
And I saw a side of the family I'd been aware of, but never met. Namely Sandra, Patsy, Shannon, Patrick and - hell, I'm missing one. Brenda! - Victor and Joyce's kids. And their kids. And their grandkids. Basically out of the fifty-odd people packed into the chapel I knew six of them. I knew OF Victor's kids, but I'd not really met them.Patrick and Eugene look SHOCKINGLY alike, moreso back when Eugene had his moustache (and I have a distinct memory of flying over to Patrick as a kid all like "UNCLE EUGENE :D"), but surprisingly Eugene is the younger and the greyer of the too. And Patrick looks like a thinner, less-grey version of Joe Mantegna XD
They were all lovely people but the sad fact, though, is that I probably won't see any of them again until the next funeral. I was convinced Sandra and I had met before at some kind of gathering but she was like, "I've not seen your Mum since her wedding!" so... apparently not.
A-and everyone reminded me how much I look like my mother, which is a bit depressing, but the worst one was, "Oh you're one of us! And HE [Matthew] must be your boyfriend, because he doesn't look like one of us at all!" "Um... actually no, we're brother and sister. We're Victor's nephew and niece. June and Ralph's grandchildren :\"
Nana and Joyce were much better when I left than they were when they arrived and it was terrible and weird to see them that way because... Victor was always so protective of them both. There was a moment afterwards - because we hadn't really had a chance to see Nana before the service - where she just clung to us and cried and it just... broke my heart, you know, to see my Nana that way. He raised her, carried her through most of their escape from Burma because she was so small and... yeah. Nana's words in the speech she gave were that he was her father figure, but really he was her dad.
And I saw a side of the family I'd been aware of, but never met. Namely Sandra, Patsy, Shannon, Patrick and - hell, I'm missing one. Brenda! - Victor and Joyce's kids. And their kids. And their grandkids. Basically out of the fifty-odd people packed into the chapel I knew six of them. I knew OF Victor's kids, but I'd not really met them.Patrick and Eugene look SHOCKINGLY alike, moreso back when Eugene had his moustache (and I have a distinct memory of flying over to Patrick as a kid all like "UNCLE EUGENE :D"), but surprisingly Eugene is the younger and the greyer of the too. And Patrick looks like a thinner, less-grey version of Joe Mantegna XD
They were all lovely people but the sad fact, though, is that I probably won't see any of them again until the next funeral. I was convinced Sandra and I had met before at some kind of gathering but she was like, "I've not seen your Mum since her wedding!" so... apparently not.
A-and everyone reminded me how much I look like my mother, which is a bit depressing, but the worst one was, "Oh you're one of us! And HE [Matthew] must be your boyfriend, because he doesn't look like one of us at all!" "Um... actually no, we're brother and sister. We're Victor's nephew and niece. June and Ralph's grandchildren :\"