Well, kids, I have to get the big shockers off my chest first. I saw my Grandma at the funeral, and she looked genuinely happy to see me! Turns out she loved the homemade canned items and now wants to give me one of her hand-painted gourd ornaments that she makes, because she knows I will appreciate a handmade gift. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I sat across from her at a normal table and talked to her for a couple hours at the post-service lunch. Wow!
And when I got home, my brother called me, and we talked for a good hour about all kinds of things. We love to give each other book recommendations, and he told me about the kite he’s planning to build next (a parafoil?) and how he’s got his girlfriend started on making a huge telescope (he builds his own telescopes, is my brother cool or what?) that will be 8 feet long so the lens won’t have to be parabolized, which he explained to me and I understood at the time but can’t reiterate here. Again with the feather knocking potential.
And if those two events were not enough to convince me that God loves me and wants me to be happy, wishing can make it so: the financial meeting got cancelled until next year (I got back too late from the funeral), and it turns out the guy I don’t love will have left the practice by then, so I get to talk to someone else. Phew!
But wait, there’s more. The funeral was the most moving one I have ever attended. I was too numb to feel as much at my mom’s as I did at the one today, and while some incredibly lovely things were said about my mother at both of her standing-room-only memorial services, and even more things written about her in the memorial book I set out, the funeral today was such a beautiful outpouring of verbally expressed love that I can honestly say I haven’t ever experienced anything like it.
The eulogies moved me to tears far more than I would have expected. I was physically prepared (flannel handkerchief: check) but not emotionally. The most moving was my cousin’s. He’s the person in that family to whom I’m closest. I’m not sure I can even write about it without starting to cry again, but the bit that sticks with me most was him talking about how his grandma would say to him, if he was ever trying to explain himself or give a reason for something he thought, she would say, Do you think I don’t know you? I know you. Wow. Excuse me while I dig that handkerchief out of my coat pocket.
And for good measure the universe threw in a slice of coconut cake, a great-so-far book on CD for the drive, and seeing a friend I haven’t seen since September, if only for a few minutes. I am a lucky soul.
And with that, Andy is coming in the back door, so I’m going to go bask in my good fortune for the rest of the evening. I hope y’all had as wonderful a day as I did.
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May you remain high atop Fortuna’s wheel.
Wow, what a day! I’m so happy for you!