Funeral

We had Grandpa's funeral. It was a very nice service and I think Grandpa would have liked it. It ended up being almost an hour and a half, but the boys did really well. I had packed some snacks and toys so they did pretty good considering.

One thing about a Quaker service is that they have a "quiet time" where the whole meeting (church) just sits quietly and if someone feels led to say something they stand up and say it. That is probably the thing that seems most different when you go to a Quaker service; otherwise it's pretty much the same. Anyway, we had a quiet time at the funeral too to give people the opportunity to say something about Grandpa. A few did and it was very nice-I think it was one of Grandpa's favorite parts of the service, he almost always got up to say something.

Had I been able to keep it together, I would have said how from the very start of Tim & I dating Grandpa and Grandma both treated me as a part of the family. Which when you start dating someone, you never know how their family is going to react to you and if they will accept you, so it was a relief.

Grandpa and Grandma both had me call them Grandpa & Grandma from the very beginning, like they knew I'd end up as part of the family. And maybe they did, or maybe they just hoped. But what I will never forget is hugging Grandpa and him whispering in my ear, "We love you!" I don't know how many times I've heard Grandpa say that over the years. Something I never got much from my family growing up so I really appreciated it. Which just made it natural for me to end a part of it. And I'm so glad I got to have 13 years with him as my Grandpa, and he got to meet all of his great-grandchildren.

But I couldn't hold it together, so I sat in the pew, holding my little baby, keeping my little boys in line, comforting my husband, and looking at the back of Grandma's head and thinking how much her heart must be hurting because I know she loved Grandpa as much as I love Tim and to think of life without him is unimaginable!