Everybody's Working For The Weekend
What a weekend.
Friday we went to my wife's grandmother's viewing. She passed away on Tuesday evening every peacefully in the hospital. She was ready to go, but I don't think that any of us were quite ready to let her. She was a wonderful woman. She always had time for everyone who ever stopped by her place. And she always had some kind of food to feed them too.
So we got to the funeral home and without surprise it was packed; mostly with family. There were friends also who stopped by but the majority was family. Boy oh boy did I marry into a huge family...but I love it. Kids running everywhere, adults standing around talking. No one is a stranger. I still don't know all the names, but I am getting there.
Saturday was the funeral. We were late. It was the first time that I have ever been late to a funeral, much less a family member's funeral...but we had to go to the nearby municipal airport to pick up some extended family who was flying into the area from St. Louis. The main guy is a lawyer who flies as a hobby so they came in on a little 6 seater twin engine. They were all great and I wish that we would have had more time with them. But we still got to the funeral about 20 minutes late.
It was a Lutheran funeral; held @ Trinity Lutheran Church. I rather enjoyed it, if one can really "enjoy" a funeral. There is something about the solace of liturgy and the type of "form" that they use in worship that seems very mystically attractive to me, but I'm sure that I would get bored with it after a while. But once in a while it just feels good to my soul to be involved in responsive reading and congregational rote. I hope that I can expose my kids to some of the beauty of this as they get older.
Grandma's request was that after the service that everyone eat before going out to the cemetary for internment because of the "long drive" that we'd have. It was really only about a 10-15 minute drive, but she was just always more interested in making sure that everyone's needs were being met. So we had a banquet that lasted almost 3 hours. Lutherans know how to put on a meal. Thankfully they were all German Lutherans, otherwise the food would have only been about 2 or 3 colours.
We then made our way out to the cemetary to say the last goodbyes and the final prayers. When it was all over the family "dispersed" but still stuck around for about an hour. My wife and I wandered around the small burial lot for a little while as the kids slept in the van. We found the grave of our 2 would-be nephews who died before they were born in a car accident. Keaton and Ian. I wish that I could have met them but sometimes life deals us hands that we can't do much with.
As we were leaving I saw that the service men were there to begin the process of lowering the casket into the vault and putting the vault into the ground. I asked my wife if it would be alright if we watched. I know that it might seem kind of morbid but I had never seen the process before. So we asked the guys if we could watch. They agreed. One of the guys had gone to school with my wife's older sister.
We stood and watched as they put the casket into the vault, then sealed it, then lowered the vault down into the ground where it would later be covered with dirt. It was all very interesting to stand there thinking that we go to all this work for a shell that was once a person who now resides elsewhere. I know that the respect is due but it is just one of those interesting things about how we care for our loved ones after they go.
I hope that I live a very long life by God's grace; but I hope that when it is over I can go as peacefully and fully ready as Grandma Caroline. She knew that she would go very soon and she welcomed the transition with open arms and without fear. Her only request is that her children be singing songs and hymns to her while she was ushered from this life to the next. Her birthday was on Thursday. She would have been 97 years old. They celebrated early. One of the songs that they sang to her as she prepared to go on Tuesday was Happy Birthday. What a birthday she must have had. I'm sure that Jesus threw a pretty big party for her once she arrived.
We will sure miss her.
So after we left the cemetary we had to head back to my wife's folks to pack up our stuff and head back home. Her sister's family is getting ready to close on a new house tomorrow and they still had to move a lot of stuff out in order to get it into storage. I had agreed to help them out last night. So from about 7:30-10:30 we made a couple of trips back and forth from the old house to the storage unit.
On my way there I was channel surfing over the satellite radio in the van. I decided to stop on Sirius Left to listen to some Liberal discussion. The program that I heard was hosted by Stephanie Miller. I had never heard of her before but she was doing a lot of bashing against Bill O'Rielly. I thought that a lot of it was pretty funny since I really can't stomach Bill for too long. I have to admit that they did have him on tape saying some really stupid things. For a guy who takes himself as seriously as he does, he should really try and polish up is image. But I digress...as I was listening to the show and some of the criticisms that they offered I came to this conclusion- I am not a Democrat not because of what they stand for, but rather because of what they don't stand for. It seems like really all they are is just "anti" whatever is going on in the Republican party. I personally think that American politics is really boring, but it just seems like they just want to bitch about whatever is going on, but don't really care to offer any insightful resolve.
In my estimation the Democrats want to control the way people live and the Republicans want to control the way people think. I think that is why I am a Libertarian. I believe in freedom. I think that it is probably most productive to take away some of the Federal authority and give it back to the States to govern themselves and their own affairs. Then if you live in a state that decides to go one way or another you can either adapt...or move your ass to somewhere that you will better fit in. I am not necessarily for the legalization of a lot of things that are currently illegal, but if a state wants to legalize things and kill themselves then they should be able to do that by their own decision. That's just the way I see it, but sadly I know that our party really doesn't stand much of a chance because we are such a minority...but I'll continue to vote for them.
Then I also listened in for a little while to the Catholic [EWTN] station for a while. I don't understand a lot of what the Catholic church does a lot of the time but there are certain things about them that I have come to respect. I won't get into all of those things here and now, but I no longer join some of my evangelical counterparts who seem anti-Catholic. I'm glad to be over that.
So today we have just been taking it easy. We slept in just a little bit. OK, it only seemed like sleeping in since we had to change the clocks last night and spring them ahead. Both kids were tired and fussy from a long and busy weekend, and tonight I have to go back to help move again. That's OK though because I need the excercise.
Friday we went to my wife's grandmother's viewing. She passed away on Tuesday evening every peacefully in the hospital. She was ready to go, but I don't think that any of us were quite ready to let her. She was a wonderful woman. She always had time for everyone who ever stopped by her place. And she always had some kind of food to feed them too.
So we got to the funeral home and without surprise it was packed; mostly with family. There were friends also who stopped by but the majority was family. Boy oh boy did I marry into a huge family...but I love it. Kids running everywhere, adults standing around talking. No one is a stranger. I still don't know all the names, but I am getting there.
Saturday was the funeral. We were late. It was the first time that I have ever been late to a funeral, much less a family member's funeral...but we had to go to the nearby municipal airport to pick up some extended family who was flying into the area from St. Louis. The main guy is a lawyer who flies as a hobby so they came in on a little 6 seater twin engine. They were all great and I wish that we would have had more time with them. But we still got to the funeral about 20 minutes late.
It was a Lutheran funeral; held @ Trinity Lutheran Church. I rather enjoyed it, if one can really "enjoy" a funeral. There is something about the solace of liturgy and the type of "form" that they use in worship that seems very mystically attractive to me, but I'm sure that I would get bored with it after a while. But once in a while it just feels good to my soul to be involved in responsive reading and congregational rote. I hope that I can expose my kids to some of the beauty of this as they get older.
Grandma's request was that after the service that everyone eat before going out to the cemetary for internment because of the "long drive" that we'd have. It was really only about a 10-15 minute drive, but she was just always more interested in making sure that everyone's needs were being met. So we had a banquet that lasted almost 3 hours. Lutherans know how to put on a meal. Thankfully they were all German Lutherans, otherwise the food would have only been about 2 or 3 colours.
We then made our way out to the cemetary to say the last goodbyes and the final prayers. When it was all over the family "dispersed" but still stuck around for about an hour. My wife and I wandered around the small burial lot for a little while as the kids slept in the van. We found the grave of our 2 would-be nephews who died before they were born in a car accident. Keaton and Ian. I wish that I could have met them but sometimes life deals us hands that we can't do much with.
As we were leaving I saw that the service men were there to begin the process of lowering the casket into the vault and putting the vault into the ground. I asked my wife if it would be alright if we watched. I know that it might seem kind of morbid but I had never seen the process before. So we asked the guys if we could watch. They agreed. One of the guys had gone to school with my wife's older sister.
We stood and watched as they put the casket into the vault, then sealed it, then lowered the vault down into the ground where it would later be covered with dirt. It was all very interesting to stand there thinking that we go to all this work for a shell that was once a person who now resides elsewhere. I know that the respect is due but it is just one of those interesting things about how we care for our loved ones after they go.
I hope that I live a very long life by God's grace; but I hope that when it is over I can go as peacefully and fully ready as Grandma Caroline. She knew that she would go very soon and she welcomed the transition with open arms and without fear. Her only request is that her children be singing songs and hymns to her while she was ushered from this life to the next. Her birthday was on Thursday. She would have been 97 years old. They celebrated early. One of the songs that they sang to her as she prepared to go on Tuesday was Happy Birthday. What a birthday she must have had. I'm sure that Jesus threw a pretty big party for her once she arrived.
We will sure miss her.
So after we left the cemetary we had to head back to my wife's folks to pack up our stuff and head back home. Her sister's family is getting ready to close on a new house tomorrow and they still had to move a lot of stuff out in order to get it into storage. I had agreed to help them out last night. So from about 7:30-10:30 we made a couple of trips back and forth from the old house to the storage unit.
On my way there I was channel surfing over the satellite radio in the van. I decided to stop on Sirius Left to listen to some Liberal discussion. The program that I heard was hosted by Stephanie Miller. I had never heard of her before but she was doing a lot of bashing against Bill O'Rielly. I thought that a lot of it was pretty funny since I really can't stomach Bill for too long. I have to admit that they did have him on tape saying some really stupid things. For a guy who takes himself as seriously as he does, he should really try and polish up is image. But I digress...as I was listening to the show and some of the criticisms that they offered I came to this conclusion- I am not a Democrat not because of what they stand for, but rather because of what they don't stand for. It seems like really all they are is just "anti" whatever is going on in the Republican party. I personally think that American politics is really boring, but it just seems like they just want to bitch about whatever is going on, but don't really care to offer any insightful resolve.
In my estimation the Democrats want to control the way people live and the Republicans want to control the way people think. I think that is why I am a Libertarian. I believe in freedom. I think that it is probably most productive to take away some of the Federal authority and give it back to the States to govern themselves and their own affairs. Then if you live in a state that decides to go one way or another you can either adapt...or move your ass to somewhere that you will better fit in. I am not necessarily for the legalization of a lot of things that are currently illegal, but if a state wants to legalize things and kill themselves then they should be able to do that by their own decision. That's just the way I see it, but sadly I know that our party really doesn't stand much of a chance because we are such a minority...but I'll continue to vote for them.
Then I also listened in for a little while to the Catholic [EWTN] station for a while. I don't understand a lot of what the Catholic church does a lot of the time but there are certain things about them that I have come to respect. I won't get into all of those things here and now, but I no longer join some of my evangelical counterparts who seem anti-Catholic. I'm glad to be over that.
So today we have just been taking it easy. We slept in just a little bit. OK, it only seemed like sleeping in since we had to change the clocks last night and spring them ahead. Both kids were tired and fussy from a long and busy weekend, and tonight I have to go back to help move again. That's OK though because I need the excercise.
posted by The Raging Paradoxidation at
15:01
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