OK, universe, I was supposed to be blissfully well-established into menopause. Who's fucking bright idea was it to have this start, today of all days?

Connie, that is both foul and unfair. According to my family history, I should also be well and truly paused by now, but nooooo....

(On a side note - is your profile addy up to date?)

Your great aunt sounds extraordinary, Shir.

Connie, have you had a physical in the past few months or so? The stresses you've been under are major, and it wouldn't hurt to make sure everything is physically ok.

I love and miss her very much. We need more people like her in the world

I'm sorry for your loss. Indeed, I'm sorry for the whole world to have lost this bright light.

Shir, I am sorry for your (and the world's) loss.

Oh, man, Connie. I can imagine that's like the last thing you want to be dealing with right now.

Yes, profile addy is good.

And it's being very light, so yay for that. Probably the stress did push the hormones up to the point of triggering. And I see my doctor regularly. Next appointment's next month, actually.

The wake went very well. His brother and his whole family showed up, I'd forgotten how well I get along with that sister-in-law. Then all the adopted family who call me Mom were there, and some other friends. The friends of my youth are going grey and hobbly. One of the ones who'd stopped talking to Hubby a decade ago was there, he was a little standoffish, but we started an interesting conversation about state politics that got interrupted by something else, then he got into a conversation with his ex-wife and they were still talking when I left.

I only had to retreat once, when it got too much thinking how much Hubby would have loved to see all these people at once. Cousins got to meet cousins who hadn't seen each other since they were all wee children, if at all. There are worse reasons for family reunions, but there are certainly better.

A thrice-divorced friend expressed her jealousy and admiration at Hubby and me, and my sister-in-law, while telling me about how often she and her husband have run into trouble, also mentioned how well Hubby and I were matched. It's both good and painful to hear.

And I express my thanks once again to Miss Manners, who has given me much good advice over the years on how to handle social engagements when your soul is bundled up in a ball.

I'm glad the wake went well, Connie. You are quite a woman.

IME the best funerals always come down to "hell of a gathering, if only it weren't such a shame about the reason for it". It sounds like you achieved that and then some.

Love to you. The loss of my uncle Frank lead me to connections to couple of unknown cousins and Frank's siblings and now we're all pretty much certain Frank would be annoyed with us for taking so damned long.

I applaud you, Connie. And I'm glad this turned into an opportunity to reconnect with good people, although of course the circumstance is terrible.