home again

It has been a long weekend. Friday and Saturday were spent in Alabama for the funeral of MonsterMustDie's mother (June 24, 1933 - July 2, 2013). We saw members of his family and a few old friends at the visitation on Friday night and the funeral on Saturday afternoon. Everyone says they must get together soon but you know the next time most of them will see each other will be at the next funeral. That's just how it goes as we get older and time grows shorter. Our lives get busier and more distant until our bodies break down to the point that we don't have the option of travel anymore. 

It is still raining constantly, every day. Alabama weather was no different and, without any break in the rain, we had all of the services at the funeral home and skipped taking the funeral party to the graveside. The pall bearers went alone to the cemetery. We waited until they had returned and everyone had left after the service to finish any business necessary and visited the grave before driving home. Both of his parents are buried side by side with his sister, Donna, who died as an infant. The traditional lamb on her marble tombstone was the closest thing to sculpture in the cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to Alzheimer's research. 

Today, back in Atlanta and after a night's sleep, we went out treasure-hunting in the morning and then met up with Mr & Mrs Lounge in EAV, where we had brunch and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and shopping. I designated myself the DD and encouraged MonsterMustDie to have a few more beers, loosen up a bit, and chat about cars (mostly), people, work, and gadgets, etc. 

Now we're home again to laundry, emails, catching up with the news, and preparing to go back to work in the morning.