A week in retrospect
I've turned on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones. You know what that means. Death. Not sad death, but "Big Chill" sort.
The kind where you get to reconnect with people that you've meant to for a long time. Grandma Ryan died at age 91, not a half bad run. Sure, we were sad, but come on, that's one hell of a run at this game, most people don't make it past 85. So yes, there were some tears, but that was only in the first half hour of the wake and the last half hour of the funeral. The wake was nice. I got to reconnect with my cousins' kids. The kids have just had their parents divorced, and it's really apparent that it has effected them. The third youngest really didn't know how to deal with death and all that (hell, at that age I didn't either, but he's much stronger and all that than I ever was!), but I got to sit with him and talk for a while. He, his two older sisters and his younger brother, are all amazingly bright kids. Kinda makes you proud to be related to them...or at least be in good enough graces to leech of them when they are millionaires and I'm living in a box. Oh, one more detail about the funeral, I was a pallbearer. It's flattering that I got to do it, but its something that is NOT an easy job, but I was happy to do it. So we said goodbye to grandma, great grandma, mom, aunt, great aunt, friend, and so on. But on the upshot we told and heard some great stories and I think became just a little closer as a family. Sounds wierd saying that a funeral was fun, but hell...it kinda was! Then I got back to school for a shortened week. Week ends tomorrow, don't go home for Easter, but it'll be fun painting eggs with friends here in these dusty old dorms. Til next time kiddies...
-Pat
The kind where you get to reconnect with people that you've meant to for a long time. Grandma Ryan died at age 91, not a half bad run. Sure, we were sad, but come on, that's one hell of a run at this game, most people don't make it past 85. So yes, there were some tears, but that was only in the first half hour of the wake and the last half hour of the funeral. The wake was nice. I got to reconnect with my cousins' kids. The kids have just had their parents divorced, and it's really apparent that it has effected them. The third youngest really didn't know how to deal with death and all that (hell, at that age I didn't either, but he's much stronger and all that than I ever was!), but I got to sit with him and talk for a while. He, his two older sisters and his younger brother, are all amazingly bright kids. Kinda makes you proud to be related to them...or at least be in good enough graces to leech of them when they are millionaires and I'm living in a box. Oh, one more detail about the funeral, I was a pallbearer. It's flattering that I got to do it, but its something that is NOT an easy job, but I was happy to do it. So we said goodbye to grandma, great grandma, mom, aunt, great aunt, friend, and so on. But on the upshot we told and heard some great stories and I think became just a little closer as a family. Sounds wierd saying that a funeral was fun, but hell...it kinda was! Then I got back to school for a shortened week. Week ends tomorrow, don't go home for Easter, but it'll be fun painting eggs with friends here in these dusty old dorms. Til next time kiddies...
-Pat