It’s a New Day and Other Stuff!!!

We went to Grampa’s funeral yesterday.  It was an open casket funeral. I had never been to one like this before so it was kind of difficult especially for Sarah and Damon. The minister from Grampa’s church spoke and he was very good.  He tried to make it a more joyous occasion than sad. He did a good job of it.  Barry spoke next and I almost clapped afterward.  But I guess it’s not appropriate to clap at a funeral home.  Barry’s talk was just so good.

I wanted to take photos but I figured that wouldn’t be appropriate either. There was one beautiful scene of Barry in the middle with his arms around Sarah and Damon at the coffin looking down on Grampa.  And then they all burst into laughter.  Only Barry can make you laugh at a funeral.  Evidently Grampa didn’t have his regular glasses on. He had some giant ones that he didn’t normally wear and of course only Barry could see the humor in it. When Barry made the comment and I’m not exactly sure what he said, Sarah told me she was laughing and crying at the same time.

After the burial we went to Grampa’s favorite restaurant for a buffet luncheon.  It was wonderful to see all of Barry’s relatives whom I hadn’t seen since Sarah’s wedding over 4 years ago.  Grampa’s younger brother was there.  He’s 91 and is a Doctor and still works.  He does consultations.

On the way to the funeral I took this photo of Barry’s crotch after he ate a muffin while driving.  Unfortunately it came out blurry but you can see the mess of crumbs in his lap after he ate the muffin.  Leslie and I teased him unmercifully over it.

After the whole thing was over, Barry took Leslie and I the long way home.

We ended up in Newport, Rhode Island.  Newport is where all the incredible Mansions are.  The Vanderbilt’s had there summer cottage there.  Many “summer cottages” were built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in Newport. This is an example of just one.  It is called “The Breakers”.

Many of these mansions are open to the public and I have been to all of them many times over the years. They really are incredible to see. We didn’t go in any yesterday though Barry and Leslie managed to do a little bird watching.

I took a photo of this white pigeon.  Barry said you don’t see white ones very often. I consider this pigeon a good omen, the start of a new beginning for everyone in my home.

Damon’s girlfriend came all the way from Buffalo for the funeral (an 8 hour drive).  Afterward they took off to New Hampshire to see the foliage for a couple of days.

Sarah and Obie are at Cirque Du Soleil in Boston today.  Barry and Leslie are bird watching– that’s a surprise!! Ha! Ha! That leaves me home alone and it is so nice. But I will look forward to tonight when they all descend upon me again. I will have a hot supper ready for everyone.  Tonight is crock pot orange dijon boneless fatless pork chops with tiny baby carrots. I suppose I should go cook it.

Oh, one more photo. I saw this in front of one of our stores in town LAST WEEK!!  A  little early for Christmas if you ask me.

Love to everyone and I really appreciate all the comments and e-mails through this difficult time.  But now I look forward to good times.  I’ll be making new videos and announcing the winner of my “name my video show” contest.  I’ll be visiting your blogs.  I HAVE A LOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO AND BE THANKFUL FOR.