Been gone...

Life has felt pretty crazy these last 7 days. I feel like it's been a month since last Thursday...

Last Thursday started like any normal day. When I got home from work, I had a message from my mom. I called her back and heard that my Grandma wasn't doing too well and that her passing would be only a matter of time (short time). This was early afternoon and at supper time we got another phone call saying that she'd gone home (eternal home).

Friday after work I re-arranged the living room (which only took two hours this time). We were selling our lamps in our garage sale so when we took them out, we decided that, without the lamps, the corners looked too empty, so a re-arrangement would have to be done. (yes, I'm smiling...) After that, I carried all the boxes of garage sale stuff upstairs and set up the tables for our sale. I put up a sign and some balloons (because balloons always help). Then all evening I sat outside with Nathan, selling ALOT of stuff!

Saturday came early as I was sitting outside with the sale by 8am. Nathan was at work, so I manned the sale alone with a short half hour break when Nathan came so I could run in to work for month end. I was freezing cold for most of the morning, but by the afternoon, the sun had made it over the house and it was a beautiful day. I burned the left side of my shoulders, legs and chest in the sun (thanks to sitting sideways to the sun all day - oops) but now it has turned into a nice base tan for the rest of my summer tanning.

Sunday was church, lunch, packing, and a solo road trip to Hudson Bay, where the funeral was. I arrived to the sound of my mom's voice saying, "Fred, get everyone's attention. It's time to eat." This is when I realized the perfection of my timing. I walked upstairs, we prayed, and I ate. Alot of the extended family was there, so the evening was spent reminiscing, writing the eulogy, and catching up with everyone.

Monday morning started with breakfast with the extended family. Afternoon was the funeral. I read a tribute to Grandma (what I wrote on my last post), which went well. I'm glad I had the opportunity to do that. It was a celebratory funeral, given that Grandma's life was lived for God and that she was ready to go (both spiritually and physically), but, as all funerals are, still emotional. The rest of Monday was spent with family and family friends at the church and later at my parents' house. By the end of the day, we were all ready for a good sleep.

Tuesday was another big breakfast with extended family. Once they left, my mom and dad and brother sat around and visited. We had lunch together (the first meal that was just the four of us) and then I headed back home. Just under 7 hours later, I arrived to meet my very happy boys.

I'm very glad I went down for the funeral. It was good to see family and people I hadn't seen in years. One cousin I hadn't seen in almost 15 years. We'd never really talked because she was older than me, but we really got along, so that was fun. It was good to catch up with everyone and just to be there for everything. I figured that soon I'll be too far away to just jump in the car and drive over, so I'd better take advantage of it while I can. And it was good.