day of the funeral

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's funeral.  We're now past that part of the trip, and on to all of the dealing with the things left behind.

The service itself was very nice.  The immediate family (nine of us in all) arrived well before others so we could have our time together.  There was a terrific slide show of photos from throughout her life.  There was some lovely flowers with the open casket.  She looked peaceful, a cliche, but it felt true.

I didn't count the attendees - I'm not keeping score on these things, after all - but there was a nice turnout, including one or two of Conrad's cousins whom I'd never met in all these years (and still haven't - Conrad didn't do introductions yesterday, nor did I ask for any).  The pastor from her Lutheran congregation did a good job in her sermon and otherwise.  Conrad's great-niece, all of 11, wrote a letter to her great grandmother that was absolutely shatteringly beautiful.  All in all, it was a good and fitting funeral for a lovely and loving woman.

We'd spent the whole morning in the hotel room, just being low key and quiet, but we needed a little movement after all that.  After the service, Conrad and I came back to the hotel and changed, then went for a short walk. 

Our hotel is outside of town, and so there wasn't much we could walk to.  The day was chilly and grey, damp-feeling.  We made it to this apple tree

and turned around to get ready to meet the family for an early dinner.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel.  We got into comfy clothing,

we sipped a little wine, but before it was even 8, I was swooning with continued fatigue.  And I do mean swooning.  I got myself into bed a few minutes before 8, and that was it for me.

Now then, onward with the day and the work we need to do.