Saying Goodbye to Grandpa, 5/16/09

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Although, my father died last September, it wasn't until this past weekend that we had a service and buried his ashes. We also used the occasion to do the same for my Uncle "Chops" (who had died a year before my Dad). While the kids are certainly too young to appreciate the weekend's events, having them along helped ease the emotions and sadness that might have overwhelmed the occasion. It was the first time I had seen my Uncle Dick and cousin Charles since high school, and the first time since our wedding that I had seen my stepmother Mildred and cousin Arun. This was also the first time that I had met my stepsister Yvonne and Dick's wife Michelle. So, despite the reason for the reunion, it became a reunion nevertheless.

While my cousins attended the service in Westfield, NJ and joined us for lunch afterwards at the hotel restaurant, the rest of us stayed at the Newark Airport Marriott. At least for the kids, it seemed like a vacation -- and certainly the weekend wasn't devoid of fun for them(not when the hotel has a pool) and other light moments. Some were almost predictable, Asa stumbled into my Chops' hole at one point and getting the kids not to play hopscotch in the cemetery would have been an impossible task.