A funeral and a reunion

We had work to do, clearing out my mom's house, so we just stuck with it. In some ways, it was therapeutic to have work to do, to be going through my mom's things. Diane planned to arrive very late on Tuesday with her boys, Ryan and Patrick. The burial was set for Friday.

Tuesday, Diane called to say that her flight was late, so she would miss her connection, and would not arrive in Louisville until Wednesday afternoon. I met with the funeral home without Diane, since decisions needed to be made in order to have it all come together. I set up a public viewing on Thursday night, with a private burial, no formal funeral, just a graveside service. The funeral home tried very hard to find a female Presbyterian minister, which was my mom's request, but they were all either out of town or at a convention. The minister was Bill Williamson, who met with us Thursday night and then met us at the grave site.

We all continued to work on clearing out the house. Pat worked particularly hard and got a lot done.

Thursday night was quiet, we had maybe 15 visitors at the funeral home. Three of the long time neighbors came by, as well as some of the people who had helped take care of my mom. The surprise visitor was the guy who owned the health food store that my mom patronized. The night was stormy, with horizontal rain.

Friday we met at the funeral home, and took the limo to Cave Hill Cemetery, a very beautiful place. Again we had rain. The minister read some scripture. Richard, Pat, and Ryan spoke. And then it was over. The five of us had a nice lunch at Richard's favorite tapas restaurant, and then back to work clearing out stuff.

Coincidentally, Friday was also the 40th anniversary of Richard's High School graduation. He had not expected to be in town, so had not planned to attend, but decided to go. He enjoyed it, just chatting with old friends from high school, many of whom he had not seen in 40 years. It was surprising how many mentioned Richard's old Corvair.

Saturday, Diane, Patrick, and Ryan flew home, while Richard and Marianne continued to fill the dumpster. Richard brought a load to the Goodwill, but they turned him away, basically said that what we brought was not good enough for the Goodwill. Richard had said pretty much the same thing to his mother, that her clothes were not good enough for the Goodwill, and it turned out he was right. We had a couple come over and help us sweep and clean, so the place looks better, inside and out. Unfortunately, there is still more to do; Richard and Diane will return in the fall.

Richard and Marianne went to Captains Quarters for dinner; this was a salute to Lavone, as she and Ed often ate there.