Jen and Andy and the boys came for the funeral yesterday. Jen used to sit on the school bus with my cousin, so Jen felt a need to come and say goodbye. The grand boys were well behaved..but really bored. They are turning into real gentlemen.
The Funeral Mass was long..with lots of ups and downs that make Far Guys hips protest. He said he took a direct hit with the Holy Water during the sprinkling and he noticed no improvement in any of his pain.
We had lunch before going to the cemetery..most times if the cemetery is a long way out of town they do it that way..lunch first then burial. The usual funeral fare was served..hotdishes of all kinds some with unrecognizable ingredients but I am sure some kind of meat and soup was involved, Jell-O and salads, dinner buns and cake.
It was a cold day to have a funeral. I guess it all worked out..the burial spot was thawed and dug.
No waiting for spring to be planted anymore. With the new gravesite thawing equipment you can be planted on a day when it is only four degrees above zero.
Everyone should remember to turn their cell phones off during a funeral..especially the funeral director:)
A direct hit, eh?!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even realize they had thawing equipment. A friend of my hubby's just lost her husband and they are waiting for spring to bury for him. That particular church must not have the equipment.
Did you hear about the NY Symphony being stopped because of a cell phone? http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10141114-mans-marimba-iphone-ring-stops-mahler-symphony-dead
Stopped the whole orchestra..unbelievable:(
DeleteThose cell phones are real distractions at times. I'm sure those hot dishes had cream of mushroom soup and tater tots. Have a good day.
ReplyDeleteOoops! I bet he was embarrassed when his cell rang. I'll have to go read that link about the symphony. Your grandchildren are indeed growing up to be gentlemen. You are really a lucky grandma to have them around in your life all the time, Connie.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry - funerals are no fun.
ReplyDeleteYour photo has a sombre beauty to it though.
Both of my parents were buried on raw, cold, windy, snowy days like that. A summer funeral with warm sunshine, gentle breezes, and birds singing in the background somehow seems to make the thought of leaving a loved behind in a cemetery a little less painful. The memory of "planting" someone in a cold grave in the middle of winter feels brutal.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing about that Holy Water - after a direct hit like that you'd think Far Guy would at least get some sort of buzz or something.
Lol, the direct hit with holy water part. Winter funerals are sad.
ReplyDeleteI guess Far Guy can sympathize with Paul now, he prayed 3 times about his pain and God said no.I think Holy Water could mean something like that.LOL
ReplyDeleteWe are all aging ,so sad for the young---to many funerals.
That is wonderful news about the thawing eguipment. Loved the poem it was a good explanation.
Oh goodness.
ReplyDeleteYes, they should remember.
*hugs* ♥
A cold day, but at least the sun was shining. It is so sad to have to bury someone so young.
ReplyDeleteLaughed about the cell phone, but really, it is so frustrating some times. Some people have no 'cell phone manners'. Sure, it's easy to forget to turn your phone off, but a guy in that job should probably just have it on vibrate all the time.
You learn something every day though (the thawing equipment).
I sure didn't know about the thawing equipment...I've learned something new.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Far Guy would be forgiven if he stayed seated during some of the upping and downing. Trying to decide whether the ground-thawing equipment is a good thing. You get the immediacy of the burial, but you have to go out there in the bitter cold to do it. In any case, burying someone that young is very, very sad.
ReplyDeleteNothing like some "Cath-elics" or "Cath-robics" to help keep the crowd awake. (No disrepect intended).
ReplyDeleteI hope you and FarGuy are "holding up" as well as one can be expected - the loss of your cousin sounds like it was a hard one on all that knew her. Thoughts and prayers coming your way.
One of my coworkers went to a funeral yesterday. She said they called theirs a 'Celebration of Life' and it was a lot of fun because they talked about some of the funny pranks the deceased had played on friends in the past. She said it was the first time she had gone to a funeral and laughed so much. Even though the family is going to miss this man terribly, they have watched him suffer horribly with cancer so it was good to remember his happier days.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for your loss. It's those of us left behind that suffer when a loved one goes to heaven.
Sympathy to you and your loss. My Dad was buried in Feb. 2008. It was a bitterly cold day in Sask. We had the committal in the church because it was just too cold to stay long outside. As ab aside , when my step mother was til alive. Dad wasn't doing wel lso she said to herself, "You wouldn't do that to us?" She didn't like winter funerals.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea they had thawing the ground equipment now. Four degrees is too cold to stand long at a gravesite. Especially when the funeral director is getting phone calls! I'm glad all went well and the young'uns behaved appropriately. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope it wasn't a long graveside service...brrrrr!
ReplyDeleteCell phones are a pet pieve of mine, I do not have one.
Your picture looks so cold...I am very sorry for the loss of your loved one.
ReplyDeleteWe don't own a cell phone and that IS a good thing!
So many things that we don't even think about south of ya. Grave thawin' equipment has never even crossed my mind. It makes scene though.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, funerals are no fun especially when their cole.
God bless and snuggle by the fire sweetie!!!
Did I tell you about when I was at my other sister's house this Christmas? I saw that she had my mom's recipe box and so I went for a stroll down memory lane. In said box was a recipe for... Chop Suey Hotdish. Yep, now that is a good North Dakota girl I tell ya! Part of me would love to make it for a culinary trip down that memory lane. I'm sure I could find an appropriate jello salad to go with it.
ReplyDeleteThat is something I've always wondered...how they dug a grave in the frozen ground. I guess they didn't before the new thawing equipment you talked about. Good thing they fed you first if you have to stand out in the cold at least you had some calories to burn and keep you warm. Your funerals sound just like ours back home except we were Methodists and there was no Holy water but after what Far Guy said I guess it wouldn't help my RA either so I guess I'll stick with the Methodists! LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe are close to that process here. It will be a sad day for us as I'm sure it was for you.
ReplyDeleteLinda
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