My Friday flights went smoothly, and I arrived in Minnesota about twenty minutes early.
I will report on the funeral tomorrow, when I have to time to write it up without crying.
There was a reception at the church immediately afterward. The food was scalloped potatoes with ham, green beans, cranberry applesauce, rolls, and various desert bars and/or brownies -- simple but nice. Each table had coffee and water, and there was a little table off to the side with two pots of Lipton tea, which Vicky and I were grateful for. (Random note: one nice change I have witnessed during my life is the increasing acceptance and availability of tea in America. When I was little, I thought I would have to teach myself to drink coffee at some point, but by the time I was in high school, you could get tea pretty much anywhere and nobody would blink.)
Then the family and some of Ardis's closest friends came back to her house, where we had snacks and conversation. Vicky and I left the reception early so we could set up at the house, and also so the house would not be empty for too long. We realized as we were leaving for the church at 10am that we had forgotten to get a house-sitter, and apparently people often rob houses during funerals... but the weather was so appalling that I don't think we needed to worry about that today. In any case, the house was untouched.
When everyone but immediate family left, my parents and sister went out to drive around the Twin Cities looking at four UU churches my parents might attend when they move back here in a few years. I stayed to clean up the house, put away the food, and wash some of the dishes.
We used up some stuff from Ardis's freezer and refrigerator for dinner (we all decided not to ask about the expiration dates on the tortellinis) and then did some preliminary divvying up of tools (my grandfather was quite a handyman, and Ardis never organized or disposed of his stuff in the basement), and also went through her Christmas ornaments and jewelry, figuring that since most of it was not especially expensive, we could just divide it more or less equally and leave the rest (and the expensive stuff) to be appraised and then sold as part of her estate. So I have some new necklaces and earrings to bring home.
Now I am heading off to bed. Vicky and Mom are flying out at 10:05 and 10:15, respectively, so even though my flight is not until 11:05, I will be accompanying them to the airport, and they want to leave at 8am so as to be at the airport by 8:30am. Fair enough, I suppose, though I am going to have a fair bit of time to kill.
And that is all for now.
I will report on the funeral tomorrow, when I have to time to write it up without crying.
There was a reception at the church immediately afterward. The food was scalloped potatoes with ham, green beans, cranberry applesauce, rolls, and various desert bars and/or brownies -- simple but nice. Each table had coffee and water, and there was a little table off to the side with two pots of Lipton tea, which Vicky and I were grateful for. (Random note: one nice change I have witnessed during my life is the increasing acceptance and availability of tea in America. When I was little, I thought I would have to teach myself to drink coffee at some point, but by the time I was in high school, you could get tea pretty much anywhere and nobody would blink.)
Then the family and some of Ardis's closest friends came back to her house, where we had snacks and conversation. Vicky and I left the reception early so we could set up at the house, and also so the house would not be empty for too long. We realized as we were leaving for the church at 10am that we had forgotten to get a house-sitter, and apparently people often rob houses during funerals... but the weather was so appalling that I don't think we needed to worry about that today. In any case, the house was untouched.
When everyone but immediate family left, my parents and sister went out to drive around the Twin Cities looking at four UU churches my parents might attend when they move back here in a few years. I stayed to clean up the house, put away the food, and wash some of the dishes.
We used up some stuff from Ardis's freezer and refrigerator for dinner (we all decided not to ask about the expiration dates on the tortellinis) and then did some preliminary divvying up of tools (my grandfather was quite a handyman, and Ardis never organized or disposed of his stuff in the basement), and also went through her Christmas ornaments and jewelry, figuring that since most of it was not especially expensive, we could just divide it more or less equally and leave the rest (and the expensive stuff) to be appraised and then sold as part of her estate. So I have some new necklaces and earrings to bring home.
Now I am heading off to bed. Vicky and Mom are flying out at 10:05 and 10:15, respectively, so even though my flight is not until 11:05, I will be accompanying them to the airport, and they want to leave at 8am so as to be at the airport by 8:30am. Fair enough, I suppose, though I am going to have a fair bit of time to kill.
And that is all for now.