Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Funeral

This morning was the funeral and it was weird. My grandparents got divorced 22 years ago and my pappaw started another family with a woman who is 5 years older than my mom and had two children that were only a little older than I am. For a few years, I would go to visit them (they lived a couple of hours away), but as I got older and a couple of unpleasant visits, that came to an end. When I moved away from home and eventually to Florida, I would send cards for holidays, but I never received one in return. Mom would tell me happenings whenever she would talk to them, but that was rare as well.

The last time I saw my grandfather and his wife was two years ago.

It's strange, I still cared and loved him, but he has been out of my life for a long, long time, and when mom called me to tell me the news, I was actually surprised about how affected I was.

At the funeral, I felt like an outsider. Everyone kept pushing me to the front and telling me what a wonderful man my granddad was and all I could do was nod. He was wonderful to me, my favorite grandparent . . . 22 years ago.

I felt sad and was moved, especially by the military salute, but I wasn't distraught like his other family.

It was nice that my grandfather's sister and her family was there. I haven't seen them since I was a kid. We went to my cousin's house after lunch and stayed for a couple of hours. I really enjoyed it and I hope we stay in touch.

Most of all though, I'm glad today is over.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

(((((hugs)))) I'm sorry for your loss.

tamblair said...

Maybe through all of this, you will gain a relationship with some family you had almost forgotten you had. I am glad it is over for you!