We left Staten Island around 7:30 in the morning yesterday, and made it to DE in time for the funeral. A little early, in fact. I had never seen an open casket viewing before, and it was a little weird, but I have to admit that they did a wonderful job. She was wearing her favorite evening dress and the makeup was lovely. Honestly, she looked nicer in the coffin than she did before she died.
The service was nice, though I wish the pastor had talked a little less about Jesus and a little more about my aunt. He barely mentioned her except in general terms of her being with Jesus now. It kind of felt like a regular Sunday sermon that happened to take place in front of a dead body.
A few years ago I went to a funeral in Burlington, NC for a distant cousin's husband, and though I didn't know him at all I learned a lot about him from the funeral. By the end of the service I felt as if I did know him, in a way. But I didn't feel that way about Aunt Honey's funeral. I don't think a stranger would have learned anything about her at the service. The preacher did sing a song that she had written, which was a nice gesture.
After the funeral my cousin Patti (Honey's daughter) had arranged a lunch at a nice Italian restaurant nearby. My folks were tired but Georg and I went with my sister. That was really good, it gave us a chance to share stories with people who had known Honey in different parts of her life. We sat with some folks Honey had told me about many times and I really appreciated the chance to talk with them.
Georg drove back up to Staten Island right after the funeral, but I stayed here in Delaware. He says his father is doing better; they've moved him out of ICU. As for myself, I'm just chilling out today. Reading a book (The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco) and watching my parents' neighbor cut down a massive tree. The tree man's chain saw doesn't seem to be quite long enough. He cut all the way around a section of trunk about 20 feet up, then had to kick at it with his foot to topple it. Is that how they're supposed to do it? I never watched anyone cut down a tree before.
Tomorrow morning Georg will pick me up and we'll head back down to Durham. And then to work on Friday. This vacation didn't turn out quite like I had expected. But at least we had a car with us. My sister told me yesterday that if we had flown to New York & didn't have a car, she would have told me to get on a train out of New York and she would have driven up to New Jersey to get me. So either way I wouldn't have missed the funeral. But that would have been a huge hassle for her, and then I would have had to get back up there in order to fly back to NC. Harried and stressful as it was, this way was still much easier.
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