I’m back! We woke up Sunday morning at 4 AM Eastern so we could hop on a plane and get back home in time for Liam to go to orchestra rehearsal Sunday evening. It seems like it’s been a week since we left for Dick’s funeral last Thursday, and in a sense it has. We travelled many many miles, and jumped right into all the activities as soon as we arrived.
The visitation had so many people come by to pay their respects: loads of Dick’s former patients, Andrew’s piano teacher and 5th grade band director, the mayor of Logansport, the owner of Mr Happy Burger (Liam was excited to meet the owner of the local burger/ice cream shop that he’s heard so much about, and enjoyed their food too) and so many more. Dick had one sister, Joan, and she and her husband Mike had 10 kids, and most of them have not moved more than an hour or two from their home town of Indianapolis, so there were LOTS of Andrew’s cousins…with THEIR kids. Both Liam and Logan really quickly connected with some of those kids, hooray!
After the visitation, dinner at a local restaurant. It was so great to be able to relax and visit.
The service the next day was as it should be, moments of sorrow, memories of joy, all accompanied by a most excellent bagpiper, which we all agree was the most important element to an event celebrating Dick.
After the service and burial, we had 3 different events involving gathering and remembering: snacks at the church, dinner at the diner, and then some toasts to Dick in the front yard of the house with some well aged Scotch. That’s when I finally dragged out the camera and captured some happy moments of the day:
Ann, the eldest and only sister, has always been camera shy, and these past couple of weeks have really taken a lot out of her. I was happy to have snapped several shots of her with most of her family (unfortunately, her other son Ian’s plane got rain delayed and he couldn’t get here in time from NYC).
All these gatherings took the sting from the sadness, and cemented relationships made thin by distance. The happy part of gathering when someone has passed.
![om [one moment] meet up](https://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx125/alamodestuff/OM_alamodemeetupbutton.jpg)
alamodestuff Linda has started a weekly meetup based on taking a moment each week to really notice something as you go about your daily grind life. I need to do this. You may want to too – read more about it here:
8 Responses
Welcome home! I’m glad you were able to have so many good moments with extended family. So sorry about your FIL passing on.
Glad you had safe travels and were able to connect with so many family and friends in memory of your father-in-law.
What wonderful photos. These moments, while sad, are so special and often full of joyful surprises. I adore the photo of you and Andrew. So sweet!
I’m so glad you’re back, and that you got to spend time with family and pay tribute to a wonderful man….the bagpiper was an important touch!
Looks like you had some great moments with family. it is so important to be around family, enjoy one another and share wonderful memories of your father in law.
When my dad passed away, the family gathered and all were sombre and quiet. After my FIL passed away, the laughter and jokes seemed strange to me but they were mourning his death by celebrating his life! And now I realise, this is how it should be!
You all did well – it was lovely to see you in one of the photos.