It was really nice to stay with my Mom during the week of her Mom’s funeral. She had some of her cousins come and spend a few nights at her place, and I was able to help prep her place for their arrival, and then hear all the stories from her generation!

The funeral was in Dublin, Ontario – the community where Grandma was raised, and in the family church, where I suspect she was also married? The cemetery is behind the church, where Grandpa is already buried, along with many other relatives.

Grandma preplanned, prepaid, and left guidance for her funeral. She wanted a religious, Catholic burial, and she got it. Mom and I picked out the flowers last time I was home, and we were pleased they looked just like we had specified!

So many of us haven’t seen each other in years, so the visitation in the church before the funeral was really perfect. That’s Grandma’s last remaining sibling, in the centre of the first row:

We also gathered outside the church, on the front steps, before the funeral and mass. Here’s a sharp-dressed cousin of my Mom’s, loyal blog subscriber, Gerry.

It was a beautiful day, with scattered showers that held off until we were inside, and there were so many people who came out to see her off! Even many Verkley’s, who despite my parent’s divorce years ago, will always be there to support my mom. My Dad’s brother Tom even wrote and performed a song for Grandma.

I was grateful that the whole day wasn’t too tearful. Not that we don’t mourn and miss her, but we wanted to celebrate her life and didn’t gather to be sad. So many people loved my Grandma and were there to celebrate a wonderful woman who lived over a century. Just my uncle Joe’s eulogy was a bit a tear triggering. He did such a great job!

The burial was immediately after the funeral.

It was such a neat idea – that the funeral home passed around the fresh flower arrangements from the church, and we each pulled out a fresh flower to leave on the casket. And my little niece Selinah made Grandma a card and letter that she left on the casket. I hope she’s old enough to retain the memories of her great-grandma. She visited and talked to her on the phone fairly regularly so maybe?

Afterwards, we went to the funeral home’s hall in Mitchell for a lunch and to spend more time together.

All my first cousins in the same place at the same time! (borrowing some pics from my cousins’ phones!) Also a picture with their kids.

Some more candid shots from the lunch (the butter tarts were out of this world!):

My cousin Wes and his husband Ted:

My aunt Cecilia, my godfather Rudy, and my dad:

Hadley, Uncle Paul, and Easton:

Here’s my immediate family and my godparents, Helen and Rudy:

Look at this! My nephew Easton has caught up to my 5’10” aunt Patricia!

Afterwards, Mom’s brother and some of her cousins came back to Mom’s house for awhile. I played bartender!

We went out for supper together. We said it was all to celebrate my Grandma, but truthfully, just between you and me, this was really just a fan club gathering of my blog subscribers:

It still feels pretty strange that Grandma wasn’t there with us. It’s taken me a few months to be able to remove her from my list of favourites on my phone, but I still can’t bring myself to remove her contact entry altogether. We love you forever Grandma!