Family Weekend

All of a sudden its Monday after a long weekend and somehow I feel that it was just the right amount of time.

The service on Friday was beautiful and it was great to see the faces of family members who had come from near and far to attend. The flowers were beautiful, the service was just as she would have wanted, the casket was pristine and couldn't have been more natural than in the church she attended most of her adult life. I enjoyed hearing the stories about the woman she was in the 1940's and 50's from two of her daughters, the stories from my cousin who painted the perfect picture of what a day with granny looked like, and admired the courage of everyone who was able to get up in front of the family and share some fond memories. I found myself laughing through tears streaming down my face and being proud to be a product of an amazing role model.

The rain cleared away for a short thirty minutes which was just enough enjoy the beams of light at her final resting place overlooking the city of Portland. I feel lucky that the cemetery is within 15 minutes of where I live as I expect to stop by often with flowers from her very own garden.

The after-gathering was at my parents home and there was so much food to eat and conversations to enjoy that it really did feel like a celebration of life - the life that she had given to each of her children. We always talk about how unfortunate it is that we only see each other all together at weddings and funerals - hopefully we can find a way to change that and in the meantime I will continue to share a peek into my life to try to connect with everyone else. Having readership from the family also really took a lot of pressure off of Dan since the family had already technically met him through the words and photos they see here!

Saturday morning after a quick run in the neighborhood, we met up again for breakfast and enjoyed a little lighter conversation than the day before - such as how my brother Matt is doing, sharing photos of his fairy tale city and how sweet mom and dad's golden retriever puppies are together.

Saturday afternoon my weekend took a turn for the best when I enjoyed a 90 minute massage from Maggie who worked out the past three months of stress out of my neck alone within ten minutes at the end of the session.  I repeat - if you want to pamper yourself go see her - she's been my savior for the past year and a half and can't remember how I used to function without her.

The rest of the weekend was spent watching upset after upset in the Men's NCAA tournament while I remain tied for 1st place in my no-bets bracket. Running, meal prep and catching up on blogs were all taken care of on Sunday so that I was able to relax and enjoy the visits by Bailey, Bella and Dad - and also cook up a tasty meal for our friend Austin who stopped by to partake in watching the bizarre evening games Go FGCU!