Coming together

A week of sadness evolved into two days of celebration for Nana on Thursday and Friday. The mood definitely changed as people came together to reminisce, celebrate family, and commemorate Nana's life.

Maya and I went up to Oswego first, helping Grandpa organize some food for the two dozen family members who came to the house for the funeral.

Grandpa seemed ready for the distraction and Maya seemed ready to help, providing good assistance at the grocery store, and lending some muscle power to stirring the pesto into the gluten free pasta.


Maya also made fast friends with Grandpa's sister Linda. Instantly connecting on issues including height and hair color, the girls giggled and had a wonderful time playing. Maya also kept her dad and Linda's husband Harry on our toes fetching marbles for the marble track game Grandpa had set up in the basement.


Maya also prepared a little surprise hiding spot for when other guests arrived ...

And the people kept rolling in. My cousin Mark arrived with his daughter Isabelle on Friday. Isabelle instantly took to Maya and the two enjoyed playing together all afternoon. It was cool but comfortable, so we made trips to the park in addition to playing and visiting around the house.

The time eventually arrived, though, to prepare for the service. Owen looked great in his necktie as he worked on a portion of what I'm sure is about 15 lbs. of the aforementioned pesto pasta, the leftovers of which are now with us in Normal. (Note: If it's mealtime and you're reading this, consider yourself invited ...)

Indeed, the funeral turned out to be a fitting celebration of Nana's life. There was some sadness, some sentimentality, some tremendous laughs, lots of music ... oh, and some technical difficulties.

The microphones in the beautiful new funeral home didn't work worth a dither. What started off sounding like water babbling across a rocky brook quickly devolved into a screeching nightmare of feedback. I have to tell you, though, I'm kind of grateful for it. Suffering through the sound problems made me relax and separate my brain from the sadness of the affairs at hand.

You'd think, though, with all the arts professionals in attendance (see photo below of us with friends from the BCPA and McLean Co. Arts Center), we would have been able to make things right ...

The service ended with time to visit family and friends, then a rush home to get the kids (who had not napped) off to bed.

Before we left, though, I did get Grandpa to pose with me in front of the strange video playing in the reception room (see below).

While an image of a blazing hearth might seem like a good way to cozy up a room, it seems to me an odd choice for a building with a crematorium ...

Nana would have laughed, too.

The past two days really were a celebration. Nana touched the lives of many, and the memories of her are helpful in healing the void left by her passing. In some ways she's not gone at all. Her influence will be felt by all of us for the rest of our lives.