...not that I'd refer to John and Mona my "sugar" but we are sitting here waiting for them to get back from New York. Allie, too, of course. I hope she had a marvelous time in "the city", at the Ball, and at West Point with her brother. Unfortunately they didn't get to see any of the commemoration events on 9-11 due to their commute from Newburg where the hotel was located. Too bad about that, but at least they had lovely weather.
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This morning Nancy brought Arno down to First German while I collected Sharon from her place to attend the funeral service of a cousin of my mother-in-law's, Milda. She was 93 years old and still looked beautiful. My mom walked to church from her house and sat with us. She said that no matter what, when she'd call on Milda in the hospital or in the nursing home, she always had every hair in place and a smile on her face. It was difficult for Arno since so many folks knew him but he couldn't see their faces well enough nor was it conducive to loud discussions about who's who when in the church. If we'd stayed for the luncheon, he might have had more opportunity to greet and remember people but he was afraid about down going the stairs to the Heritage Hall for the fellowship following the committal service.
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Mom has told me how wonderful the Pastor's funeral sermons are and I got to hear for myself today. Mom and I separately told Pastor Hahm how much the sermons mean and he told Mom, "I'd better go and polish it up a bit!" We sang hymns we loved, especially one I've chosen for my own funeral, "For All the Saints". Beautiful and full of meaning. The daughter of the deceased greeted me as we came through the line of mourners, remembering who I was (am) and about my little boy who died. Wow, I was impressed by her remembering this, as evidently her mom must have spoken of it or something. The daughter looked familiar to me but was not someone who'd I'd expect to know about Timmy or me. Nice.
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I also got to talk with the morticians, a father/son team who took care of my mother-in-law's funeral arrangements last year, plus I've known the father all my life. Dennis made beautiful bookmarks for us after Timmy died and sent us a thoughtful card. His son, Andrew, remembered me from Lucile's funeral and greeted me with a hug when we met in the hall at church. He barely looks old enough to drive and yet he's a mortician, go figure! His dad stands 9 feet tall and has to lean way over to hug me, but did so anyway, saying, "It's great to see you, Little Lady!" When Mom arrived at the church, he said, "Kim's in there already." Don't you love it?
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My friend and former classmate (actually 2 years ahead of me), Joanie, was just coming out from the church and was quite shaken up after greeting the mourners. She'd recently lost her own mom plus attended other similar funerals at this church this year. Linda J., Joanie, and I are going to lunch on Tuesday so we can chat under different circumstances. Linda has an appointment in T'rivers in the afternoon so we're meeting half way in between at The Oar House. Doesn't that sound yummy?
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Nancy and I took our charges to the Four Seasons Restaurant for lunch. No steps and brightly lit, making it easier for Arno to see and navigate. Sharon, Arno and I enjoyed our perch sandwiches while Nancy slobbered her way through a gyro. She wishes she'd had the perch instead as her sandwich wasn't quite what she thought it would be. Both Arno and Sharon cleaned their plates, with Sharon eating not only her food, but half of mine as well. Since she can't see at all, I had put my fries on her plate, telling her I was doing it, and she ate them all. Arno ate his own meal plus some applesauce and three people's tomatoes. He was the designated tomato eater. The perch came on hard rolls and were so delicious, almost makes me want to go back and have another one tomorrow! We came back to Arno's afterward and just sat around chatting all afternoon. Sharon rarely gets to visit at her former home so it was nice to have her here with her Dad for a while. I took her back to Hanna Home after dinner time so she'll have a snack before going to bed, to make up for the missed meal. Her tummy was still full from all that lunch!
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This morning I woke early and then went back to sleep again. If you are like me, that's when the most crazy dreaming takes place. Sometimes those dreams will stick with me all day long, making me wonder if indeed it was only a dream. My dream today was something I've lived through once already and waking up didn't it stop then, and it's hard to shake now. It must be from watching all those programs on the Lifetime channel at Mom's. Justin doesn't like for me to watch that channel because much of the subject matter is, shall we say?, too real. Those dreams make me wonder if I should let myself fall back to sleep when I awaken so early or if I should just take my chances on the subject matter I'll dream about....
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"I'm just sittin' here waiting for my sugar to show, listening to the sirens and the radio. Said he'd be here over three hours ago, waiting for his car, climbing, climbing the hill...." "It always seems so righteous at the start, when there's so much laughter, when there's so much spark, when there's so much sweetness in the dark...waiting for his car, climbing, climbing the hill...." Joni Mitchell--Court and Spark album
