You look like a glamazon in the first one listed as us, you and your boots. And the one after that is a closer shot.

What's this for again?

JZ, that sounds like a lovely ceremony.

Steph, I'm rooting for gall-bladder stuff for your dad, too. My maternal grandma, my mom, and my sister have all had theirs removed while in their 20s and recovered just fine. Apparently the scars got dramatically smaller with each generation.

It seems like a rare thing, a memorial that was actually true to the person's life and spirit, that felt sad but good and right.

At my mom's father's funeral, one of my baby cousins, disconcerted by all the weepy cousins and aunts and uncles and parent, began fooling with the hymnals such that one of us began to giggle and it slowly migrated, and the next thing you know, the whole family side of the church was laughing, snorting, elbowing, howling. When we quieted (it took a while) the pastor paused in his speech and said "It's truly wonderful to have all the P's giggling in the pews again, interrupting me." At which point the whole congregation lost it once again.

Then they played The Yellow Rose of Texas ( a favorite of my grandfather's, who knows why, he had no connection to Texas, or particular fondness for roses) and everyone lost it AGAIN.

This was for a man who, when my cousin said it took her three planes to get to visit him after his last heart attack, replied "You don't look that heavy."

So it was perfect. And thank you for reminding me of that.

TAR: When the teams are in the centrifuge, the music sounded just like the Star Trek music of conflict!

Wow! great prize for first place.

ita, the two pictures in your post are a great combo. A 1-2 punch, if you will.

The day of my grandfather's funeral a few years ago works out to be wonderful in my memory, even though the actual service was just OK. I was a pall-bearer, which was great (in its way), and afterward we all went back to my grandmother's and sang, and that was just amazing.

Laughter is what I remember of all the funerals. We didn't have a formal memorial for my paternal grandpa, but we were there when he died in his sleep, so there was an impromptu memorial at the house the day of. Laughter. With paternal grandma, there was nothing except my mom and dad and my aunt and her husband converging to clean out the house a month or so later. Their stories were of drinking and going through stuff, laughing and trying to pawn off the more hideous bits of furniture on each other.

Which, I think, is how it should be. Just being family and friends.

Also? t dork I like watching Devi in repose. She's so pretty and elegant and silvery. Beauty is a lovely thing. She's pretty moving too, but just watching her tucks and curls and the silvery cloud on her paws.... it's just nice.

When I was 12 my paternal grandmother died. It was the first time I had to deal with the death of someone close to me, and I remember the shock I got when I saw the open casket. A few minutes later, a little old woman came up to me and the rest of the grandchildren and introduced herself as one of my father's (and his brothers') elementary school teachers. She proceeded to tell us all sorts of stories about "the boys" that were also stories about our grandmother. She had us all laughing at the ways our fathers had misbehaved and how my grandmother had found them out. Hearing stories we'd never heard before about my grandmother was a great way to celebrate her life.

Heck knows my father would have never told me about the day he pushed his brother Stanley into the pond and tried to put one over my grandmother...

See, this is how lives are lived. They end, and yet they prompt those of us left to remember that they were lived. And that's lovely.

I found this pic -- but maybe they'll try and sign Jilli up instead -- that'd be a sight, especially if they let her have a parasol and a purse

You look wonderful in that picture. I would try to add you to the list of decorative people I want to keep in cages and play dress-up with, but, y'know. Killing. Pinky. That sort of thing.

JZ, the ceremony sounded lovely.

TAR, I am SO over Team Florida. I swear, if that woman thanks God for one more thing, I will beat her with a shovel. (And if when I die, there is a God, and he is sitting on His Ass watching CBS? I'm gonna be doubly pissed.)

I really want the Ganghans (sp?) to catch up. Those kids ROCK.