Today was mostly spent in final preparations
for the funeral. Dad and Aunt Debbie continued making phone calls to relatives,
friends, banks, and service companies. We started going through Grandma and
Grandpa’s things as well. Dad combed through a lot of the financial papers.
Grandpa kept meticulous records! He still had medical records carefully filed
away that were from the 1980’s! Dad shredded a good deal and packed away what
needed to be kept.
I worked on going through all of Grandpa’s
pictures, pulling out ones of him for the slideshow. Some of us worked on our
written tributes to Grandpa that we were going to read at the funeral.
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With
all the seriousness and sadness, we are so grateful for T and his comic relief!
J
I love my cousins!
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Late
in the afternoon my Aunt Debbie, the twins, and I went over to the nursing home
to visit Grandma and decorate the display box outside her room. Almost all the
other residents on her hall have theirs decorated, but for a long time she didn’t
want decorations in hers. I think it made her feel like she was staying there
permanently when she didn’t want to.
Photo
Credit: Roma.
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But we decided that it was time to decorate
it anyway and brought some of her favorite pictures and knick-knacks from home.
I think she liked it. J
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We
returned home that evening to a delicious dinner provided by an extended family
member. The broccoli cheese soup was incredible! We were so blessed by all
those that brought food for us.
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~Sunday,
January 20~
Originally we weren’t going to go to church
on Sunday. There was so much to be done at the house, and we wanted to spend
extra time with Grandma. But Dad had decided to go to church, particularly
since they were hosting the visitation and funeral there the next day. One by one,
the rest of us decided to go as well. I think we just wanted to do something
that was normal after all the sudden changes.
Going to church was encouraging, but also
saddening at the same time. Several of us shed tears during the singing as we
looked to the end of the pew at Grandpa’s empty seat. He *loved* to sing and
was part of the church choir for many years. But for the last few years, he was
unable to sing with the choir due to his breathing difficulties. He now gets to
sing with the heavenly choirs, and he will never run out of breath!
We arrived home from church and started
warming up leftovers for lunch. We got a call from my Dad’s cousin who was
driving up from Virginia. He had arrived in town and would be at the house in a
few minutes.
Although we wished it had been under
different circumstances, it was so good to see him! Out of all the family, I
think he reminds me the most of Grandpa. He has the same mild, soft-spoken personality
that Grandpa did. The world would be a much more peaceful place if everyone had
personalities like them.
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We
thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Cousin E over lunch. He is such a joy to be
around!
Photo
Credit: Roma.
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A
couple hours later, we all piled into vehicles and drove over to visit Grandma.
My Mom’s parents had just arrived in town from Ohio, so they joined us there as
well. I think Grandma enjoyed seeing everyone.
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After
we visited with her for awhile, we picked up the lasagna we had ordered from a
local restaurant and went home to eat. It was good to have a house full of
people.
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When the out-of-town family left for the
night, the pace picked up to finish all the funeral preparations. We came up
with a timeline for the next morning since 12 people had to be out the door by
8:15 a.m.
To
be continued . . .
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