Long Day

Thursday was a very long day. I drove about 175 miles, including the miles to the office.

I took the baby boy to school and then it was off to work for a couple of hours. Then I went to Mom’s and we had lunch and then drove out to the church for the funeral. My uncle passed away last week; he was 91. It’s a small church with about 70-100 members tops in the same city where my dad grew up and was born. We drove out there from Mom’s and got there about 30 minutes early. Mom rode with me (I had to follow in my car because I had to leave directly from there to get the kiddo for his evening soccer practice) and I bent her ear on some things that have been bugging me.

Even when you’re 30+, you still need your mom. Right? 🙂

It was good Mom/Daughter time, I thought.

My other uncle, who’s a reverend, preached the sermon and it was very nice. But he did mention my dad (who died 7 years ago in March) and of course that made us all weepy. I was doing good till then.

There’s something about funerals that sort of make you face your own mortality. It’s like you realize then and there that you’re not so invincible. For some reason, I found myself thinking of where I had come from and where I was going. And I wondered if I had made different choices about my life if I would be the same person…and who would be at my funeral? I wondered if my siblings would be standing in a church mourning the loss of one of own someday in the (hopefully) very far future. Isn’t that a morbid thought?

My SIL told me she wanted “It’s Not Unusal” by Tom Jones played at the grave side at hers. Which of course made me laugh out loud which got me in trouble with Mom. Yeah, I can still get the Evil Mom Look even at my age. heh heh

It’s kind of sad to see all the aunts and uncles going, one by one. And when you’re a kid and you grow up with these people, it never really occurs to you that some day you’ll be sitting in a church listening to humorous andecdotes about their very long life. Or visiting with cousins you haven’t seen since the last funeral a few years back. The family as we knew it back then has changed to something different where all the kids are grown-ups with kids of our own. Where we talk about where we’re living now and what we do for a living instead of Aunt Loradell’s chickens running amok and fresh milk straight from the cow. The dogs in the yard. Uncle Bud’s ham radios. And Dad and his brother talking about stuff for hours. Telling stories about their days long past when they were kids. They grew up in a era we’ll never see again. Which makes me wonder – what are we going to be talking about in twenty years? What sort of stories will we tell our kids? That we never had a Wii or carried a cell phone until 1995? That we grew up with one television in the house and Pong? There was no such thing as digital cameras and DVRs?

I have to say, though, it was nice to visit with the few family members that hung around after the grave side. Unfortunately, I had to dash back to my neck of the woods to pick up the kiddo for soccer practice. Right in the height of rush hour traffic. The Turnpike is the best thing since sliced bread – I never would have made it if I didn’t have a toll tag and couldn’t take the turnpike. It shaved probably 45 minutes off my drive and it took me an hour and a half as it was to get back across town. He had to be at practice at 6 and I didn’t get to the sitter until 5:45 to get him. We made a mad dash home, changed in lightning speed, and then rushed back out the door to practice. We were only 5 minutes late. Whew.

Got home, had dinner, watched Idol (no surprise on who left either. Had to happen eventually since she was kinda…boring). During dinner, I tried to get the kiddo to do his spelling words. He said, “Hey, can’t you see I’m busy eating here?” It cracked me up and I coudln’t help it, I laughed out loud. Goofy kid.

Then by the time Idol was over…it was bedtime. And I was so happy to climb into bed and shut out the lights. Talk about exhaustion. Of course, the kiddo took a nap after school she had trouble getting to sleep. I told him to lay in his bed, close his eye, and think happy thoughts. Not sure if that worked out not. haha

Okay I think I’ve rambled enough here today. I gotta get to school and work. Thank goodness we are one day closer to FRIDAY.