Live from Tormville!: home again

John, Mike, Aaron, Larry, Amy, Emily and Jess

I apologize for my absence here on my blog - but as I had mentioned in a post a week plus ago, my father-in-law wasn't doing well. He passed away on Friday, so we traveled to Minnesota (we picked up Greg in Chicago on the way) and just got home last night. We are exhausted, but it's good to be back home.

And while funerals can be emotionally draining, they are also healing. They are also a good time to catch up with friends and relatives. The family above are my husband's cousins - his dad's twin brother's children.

I've met them all before and have known them for years - so when I'm told so often that wow Greg looks a lot like John....I've known exactly who they are talking about and I can see it too. When we go to his and their hometown, I hear it even more and at the funeral, I probably heard it almost nearly as often as I heard condolences. We don't just hear John anymore, but Mike too and sometimes Aaron. It changes as they age, but the common theme is that Greg looks more like Richard's kids than Robert's kids.

Anyway.

I share this because it includes a fun story.

On Monday afternoon - after the Sunday visitation and the Monday funeral - I ran with Wendy and a friend up to Dan and Becky's, a local health food market, for a couple items.

At the register then I was telling Dan how nice it was that he had come to the visitation and then went on to explain that I was married to the son that doesn't live in Minnesota.

Trying to put a face to the name, he asked if Greg had been in the receiving line at the visitation. I said yes, that he was the one wearing the golden plaid shirt.

He says, oh - the one standing next to Richard. And then he paused, and corrected himself saying - oh, but that was one of Richard's sons.

I laughed. I said no. That was Greg.

He was stunned. He thought he was offering his condolences to Aaron.

gave me a giggle.

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Our Wendy had a tough time this weekend, as was witnessed by many. The doctor was right when he diagnosed her as highly empathetic. A diagnosis I had searched out after she nearly blacked out after hearing about a teacher's son's battle with cancer, and after she DID black out after hearing about someone getting their blood drawn. The doctor had explained then that she doesn't just feel her pain - she feels everybody's pain.

We spent a big bulk of the visitation working on coping skills, and she struggled at the graveside - and she was still struggling a few hours into our trip home - but she just left for school this morning seeming to be doing okay. She brought down a journal this morning that is already pages deep of her memories of grandpa.

She'll be alright.