Yesterday was hard, really hard

Yesterday was the celebration of my Mother’s life.  It was held at their church in Louisville.  I was here in California.  I could have gone back, but there were many more reasons for me to be here.  So I was here and my family was there.  Last night we SKYPED my brother, Henry, and his wife, Ann, to hear about the day.  Talking to them and nephew Lee was very good.

At breakfast I went on Facebook and fell apart.  A nephew had posted pictures of things at the service.  I wasn’t expecting that.  I had asked for pictures, but wasn’t ready.  Through the day I went back and looked at the pictures.  They helped and they didn’t.

You need to know about this service and the meal afterwards.  It was to be happy, it was to be beautiful, filled with organ music and songs by talented singers. Henry told me the minister used most of my blog about Mother in the service.  The minister also told them he was amazed by the huge crowd.  When people die at 95 usually there are few left to mourn them.  The church was packed with children to senior citizens.  Anna touched all age groups and all types of people.  There were other ministers, the pool man, staff from the nursing home, neighbors, family and friends from many states. 

Now to the reception.  I have told you how my Mother loved Kentucky football and tailgating.  Well, they held one last tailgate party for her.  The hall was decorated with U of K items   The food was tailgate food. There were coolers full of soft drinks. 

And Mother was there.

This is Mother’s wheelchair.  It has the U of K blankets she used at the games, a pom pom shaker, and her urn of ashes.  This is how you celebrate 95 years of a great life.

When we talked to Henry, Ann, and Lee last night, we laughed.  There were some tears.  But we had a fun talk.  They told us the things that went wrong, programs with millions of typos that they fixed before everyone got there.  The Air Conditioning broke in the sanctuary.  The men were shucking their suit coats. And all were wishing for those Funeral Home Fans that used to be on the back of pews in the summer.  They told us about the people there.  We laughed about “eccentric” relatives.  We talked and eased our hurt.