Day Two in Ohio. So far so good with the out of town updates. Both SGL and SGL2 were updated yesterday so that is a good start.
Min and I were both in bed pretty early last night. She managed to get to bed around 10:30! I wasn’t able to hit the hay until closer to a quarter after eleven. One thing I hate about being in hotels is that I constantly have to hook up and unhook my CPAP machine. It isn’t the end of the world but it makes for an extra chore at the end of a long day out of town and one more item to always have to worry about even for relatively minor trips.
We had to be up and moving early this morning. No Saturday sleeping in for the two of us. I was awake by 7:10. We got up and got ready to face the day and then went down and met the family at the hotel’s continental breakfast. We met at 9:00 and had our breakfast. Then we went back to our rooms to take care of any last minute preparations before meeting again at 10:00 to head out to the cemetary.
The service at the cemetary was at 11:00. The rain started just a little while before we arrived. It was a slow drizzle that was very appropriate to the service at hand. The family sang at the service. Min, Sara, Jeremy and I all read. Dad gave the service. There were a lot more people at the service than any of us had been expecting. Probably more than forty.
After the service everyone continued over to the Firehouse in Louisville, Ohio for lunch. Just about everyone that was at the interment made it to dinner. The food and service was great. It was really awesome to have so much time to visit with so much family that I almost never get to see. We all had a really good time.
Dad, Min and I and the Richardsons all went from the luncheon over to the nursing facility where Uncle Bill is living. Min and I came out to visit him almost a year ago but he wasn’t in good enough health at the time for us to visit with him. Today he was in really good shape and was actually sitting in the lobby of the nursing home looking out the front door right as we walked in. That is really amazing since he didn’t know that we were in town and had no idea that anyone was coming to see him today. I haven’t had the opportunity to visit with him in years and Min has never been able to even meet him. So it was very special that we got to see him today. There is a good chance that we won’t get the chance to see him again. He is 88 and fading fast. He is by far the oldest of the siblings left. We managed to spend two hours or more with him.
From the nursing home Dad, Min and I went over to my grandparents’ in East Canton to visit with that side of the family. Just about everyone was able to come over and hang out tonight. Today is the first time that I have seen Monica since Min and my wedding over two years ago. Grandma knew I was coming so she made elderberry pie:) That is, of course, my favourite. Maybe it wouldn’t be my favourite if I was able to get it all of the time but I am lucky if I can get it once a year so I really appreciate it.
On the way back to the hotel we swung into the Louisville Dairy Queen and got a quick dinner. Then it was back to the hotel. We were all really exhausted today and wanted to get some sleep. Dad is staying in Ohio later tomorrow than Min and I are. Min has to work tomorrow evening and overnight. So she has to be into work by 3:00 pm. That means that we have to leave really early in the morning. Very early. 7:00 in the morning we need to be more or less on the road. That is awfully early for a Sunday morning after a long, exhausting weekend. I have to wrap up today’s post so that I can get into bed and hopefully get enough sleep so that I am able to drive tomorrow since I am the only driver that we have available.