Bittersweet

We had a memorial service for my Papa on Friday. I am still a bit confused. The obituary said he was going to be buried in Pennsylvania. But there was an urn on a stand and people kept talking to it. Later this week, I'll give my mom a call and ask.

My parents' new (as in they've only been attending this church for 3 weeks) pastor "did" the service. He did a fair job, considering he never met my Papa. He'd asked my mom for my Papa's Bible. He said sometimes you can tell a lot about people by the notes in their Bible. The only thing he found was a handwritten testimony by my Papa. In it he talked about riding a wagon or walking three miles to church. He was thankful that his parents took and did not send him to church. He stated that it was his own parents' example that led his choice to do the same with his own children.

I have for years, given my Gramma and Papa credit for the Christian heritage that has been passed to me. I know that God does not have grandchildren. I know that every person must make their own choice, but without a heritage, that choice is made more difficult.

Then my dad got up to speak. I hadn't cried since Monday night. I have been so thankful in my Papa's passing. The Lord did not allow him to suffer for a prolonged period of time. The people who loved him did not hang on and hang on, begging him (and God) to stay. It was time. My Uncle, his only son, was with him the whole week. That was a pure miracle of God, because when I spoke with him on the phone he was reconsidering flying in from California.

So, my Dad got up to speak and I started crying immediately. He talked about his father-in-law as a father. He was my dad's Sunday school teacher as a teen and it was then, that my dad accepted Christ. He had my dad come over often to do odd jobs. My dad believed it was to nurture a relationship between he and my mom. So my Papa saw something in my dad. My dad talked about all the help and guidance my Papa had given him over the last 41 years. And my dad, who is normally a very quiet man was so eloquent. I was very proud of him by the time he was done. And nothing more needed to be said about my Papa.

The rest of the weekend was filled with sweet family time. I saw my beautiful cousin for the first time in 21 years. The last time I saw her, I was borrowing $50  so we could drive back to Texas from California. Gosh...I wonder if I ever paid her back?

I had a couple of glasses of wine with my Grandmother (my dad's mom). That is always interesting.
My brother and his beautiful family were able to fly in from Georgia. I have a year and a half old niece that I saw for the first time. They did have to take her to the emergency room, she was having trouble breathing./ They discovered she had the beginning of pneumonia. I spoke with him last night and she is doing wonderfully. they caught it very early.

The boys got to play with their cousins. We don't get together often enough with my sister's family. They are not far away.

I came home realizing how I have distanced myself from my family. Family is weird. But when everything else falls away, it's all that is left (except for a couple of dear dear friends who have been around almost as long, if not longer than some family.)

I went through Facebook (it is sometimes a wonderful tool) and wrote birthdays on calendars. I am going to pencil in visits to the sister and to the parents/grandparents. Bonus! that is a one stop shop now. They all live in the same park, now :) In fact, I was scheming on how to get Sam's mom there, should anything happen with her sister's park before Sam retires.