Last Respects and Family Time

We just returned from New York, where we were for the last few days so we could lay Nan to rest. We flew out on Monday (09/05/16) and stayed with Mom. She seemed to be doing well, though she was tired and drained. We spent some time that night at my brother’s house and then at my nephew’s. It was nice to have some time with family even though Melissa and I were tired from travel. Tuesday (09/06/16) was spent finalizing some things for Nan’s services and spending time with Mom, we also ran a few errands but mostly had a low-key day. Wednesday (09/07/16) was the day of Nan’s service. My grandmother had made all the arrangements for her own funeral years ago, which meant there wasn’t much we needed to do to get things ready. I am very grateful that she did this as it minimized the stress for my mother as much as possible as all of the arrangements fell to her for everything else. Per Nan’s wishes there was no obituary published, and the viewing was immediately prior to the services and interment. It had been a number of years since I had last seen Nan, and it was amazing to see how much she had changed since that time. I certainly regret not being able to make it back home more often, but thankfully my family all understands. The service was very nice and a lot of family that I had not seen in years made it up to pay their respects. Myself and her other grandsons and great grandsons had the honor of acting as pallbearers, and it was with heavy, yet joyful, hearts that we carried out that duty. After the services were complete we had a small family gathering back at the senior community in which her and my mother live. Following that we went back to my nephew’s house for a little while to spend additional time with family. Our plane left today at noon, so we had to say good to Mom around 10am. Unfortunately due to some layover delays we didn’t get home until a little while ago, but honestly it still shaved about 4 hours off of driving and was vastly more comfortable. While I am thankful to have had the opportunity to go back home and see everyone, I hope the next time we make it back to New York it is for happier reasons.