Memorial Service Part One

I was debating about what to write about for these next few posts.  I feel like I've been talking about losing my Grandma a lot on here and on Facebook and I wondered if people were getting tired of hearing about it.  I have seen first hand that most people are not comfortable dealing with others grief for very long.  I think it is just human nature.  Even seeing other people grieve causes us pain and human nature is to shy away from anything that causes pain.  Therefore, most people aren't comfortable when you continue to talk about your loss after a few days because it is easier for them for you to grieve in private. 

But then I realized that my whole purpose in writing this blog is to have a record of our family.  The good and the bad.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that I wanted to write down the memories I have of my Grandma's memorial so that I can come back in a year or two years or five years and be able to have a written record of what happened and what I felt at the time.  So, in as condensed a version as possible...

I took off on Wednesday and drove to my brother and sister-in-law's house to stay the night with them.  I'm glad I have a good relationship with both of them and am always able to be with them and feel welcomed.  Traveling by myself was interesting.  I can't remember the last time I drove 5 hours all by myself.  I think I might actually prefer having the girls with me.  Ask me again after I travel with them again.

Thursday my brother, sis-in-law and I drove about 12 hours after dropping off their daughter with another set of grandparents and heading west to meet our family.  The drive was as nice as 12 hours in the car can be.  Again, glad I get along with both of them.

Thursday night I stayed with some friends of ours.  Actually, I consider them friends and mentors and it was really nice to see them for a few hours, even if the reason for it kinda stunk. 

Friday morning we met up with the rest of the family and headed out around 5.  We rented a 12 passenger van and had 8 adults going.  My Dad, myself, aforementioned brother and sister-in-law, another brother and sister-in-law, actual sister and her boyfriend.  Did I mention that I have 5 siblings?  Good luck keeping all of us straight.

The good news is that all of us made it in the van traveling for another 12 hours with no one getting stabbed in the neck with a pencil.  Other than a few complaints about how cold I needed it to be to not throw up in the back, it wasn't a bad trip.  As a side note--I found that after the first few hours everyone preferred my sitting up front to me sitting in the back and freezing them out.  It totally wasn't my intention to spend the entire trip in the front seat.  Not my intention at all.

We arrived about 5 pm Friday night, got everyone else settled in the hotel and headed to my uncle and aunt's house to spend time with family. 

I think that's enough for now.  I'll write about the rest of the trip next time.