Family Time at Grandma's Funeral

Last night we had a family greeting friends evening at the mortuary.  There weren't a lot of friends there, so the relatives got to visit with each other.  One of my uncles told me a woman who worked with Grandma told them that the last few weeks, Grandma had kept saying she wanted to go home, and it wasn't her own home she was talking about.

Not only had I not seen my grandmother in a long time, it had been as long or longer since I'd seen my cousins, aunts, and uncles.  When we were kids, and up until a few years after we started having children, we got together every Christmas, usually Christmas Eve.  I remember Grandma used to give all her kids and their spouses the same or similar gifts, and the grandchildren would also get similar gifts to each other.

The cousins enjoyed trying to catch up today.  We were the pall bearers.  Most of us rode in the hearse.  It was actually quite pleasant.  

I was pleased when we got the mail, and there was an invitation from one of the cousins for a Christmas gathering the middle of the month.