Grandma's memorial service was today. The hubby dropped off the boys at daycare while I did my hair and makeup. He returned just as I was finishing up. Amazingly enough, we got there in plenty of time and didn't feel at all rushed. (I'm notoriously late for everything, so this was impressive.).
This particular branch of the family is quite spread out. We have relatives in Florida, Texas, Wyoming, New York, North Carolina, and some states I'm sure I've forgotten to include. It's sadly true that nothing brings the family together like a funeral. There were missing family members, of course, but the turn out was exceptional given the distances some of these people had to travel.
The most surprising reunion was in finding my cousin, Duane. It seems he lives less than a half hour from me. His dad had tracked him down a few months back (long, convoluted family story there) and had been keeping him apprised of grandma's pending death.
I don't have a lot of memories of Duane but I did remember the one common interest we had had as children. Writing. He used to write science fiction, IIRC. It seems he still writes, although not as much as he'd like. (Boy, does that sound familiar!).
I also got a chance to visit with my younger, twin uncles. Mind you, I don't call them Uncle Joe or Uncle John. It's just not natural to call someone younger than you by that particular title. They'll always be Joe and John to me, the boys my brother and I played in the tree house and woods with when we'd come to visit. They're both married now and have families of their own.
Then there was my second cousin, David. He's a bit older than me and I don't have many memories of him. We still managed to have a nice little visit. His mom and dad have told me so much about him and his family that it really wasn't hard to strike up a conversation.
The most amusing thing, to me anyway, is that most of them had to comment on my height. I'm short. Probably the shortest one of the bunch. Most of the time it isn't that noticeable (hey, be nice!) but when you're surrounded by those much taller than yourself it becomes strikingly obvious. So much so that my one Uncle kept refering to me as the "midget". LOL
All in all, it was nice seeing people I usually don't run into on a regular basis. It's times like this that make me regret not keeping in closer contact.
This particular branch of the family is quite spread out. We have relatives in Florida, Texas, Wyoming, New York, North Carolina, and some states I'm sure I've forgotten to include. It's sadly true that nothing brings the family together like a funeral. There were missing family members, of course, but the turn out was exceptional given the distances some of these people had to travel.
The most surprising reunion was in finding my cousin, Duane. It seems he lives less than a half hour from me. His dad had tracked him down a few months back (long, convoluted family story there) and had been keeping him apprised of grandma's pending death.
I don't have a lot of memories of Duane but I did remember the one common interest we had had as children. Writing. He used to write science fiction, IIRC. It seems he still writes, although not as much as he'd like. (Boy, does that sound familiar!).
I also got a chance to visit with my younger, twin uncles. Mind you, I don't call them Uncle Joe or Uncle John. It's just not natural to call someone younger than you by that particular title. They'll always be Joe and John to me, the boys my brother and I played in the tree house and woods with when we'd come to visit. They're both married now and have families of their own.
Then there was my second cousin, David. He's a bit older than me and I don't have many memories of him. We still managed to have a nice little visit. His mom and dad have told me so much about him and his family that it really wasn't hard to strike up a conversation.
The most amusing thing, to me anyway, is that most of them had to comment on my height. I'm short. Probably the shortest one of the bunch. Most of the time it isn't that noticeable (hey, be nice!) but when you're surrounded by those much taller than yourself it becomes strikingly obvious. So much so that my one Uncle kept refering to me as the "midget". LOL
All in all, it was nice seeing people I usually don't run into on a regular basis. It's times like this that make me regret not keeping in closer contact.
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