Josephine hearts 75860

We headed to Teague the last weekend in September, aiming for a weekend between the birthdays of Sean's dad and mom. (Though technically I guess every weekend counts as such, but that's not the point.) As it turned out, a few hours before we were to leave we received news to pack clothes for a funeral for Sean's paternal grandfather, who has been very sick for a long time. He ended up passing away that evening, and the funeral was planned over the weekend and held on Monday the 27th. I'm grateful that we were able to be there the full weekend, that Sean was able to help plan the funeral of someone so integral to his upbringing, and that everything turned out very beautifully. I'll mention more about this at the end, but here's the chronological take on things, according to my camera...

Of utmost importance was squeezing in some kiddy pool action before the storms brought in cooler weather:

By the way, if you are concerned about the circumstances of her cup drinking demonstration below, you might be comforted to know that the hose is continually running, and she's in a swim diaper...

We also got to preview a Halloween costume Sean's parents found for Josephine. This was quite amusing. It's stuffed in a way that REALLY emphasizes her waddle. Needless to say, this'll be a dramatic step up from last year's duck!
Of course, costumes needn't be limited to Halloween. One year olds understand this, and therefore are remarkably good at playing dress-up. I believe it was Sunday morning when I woke up to find this tearing around the house:Keys, necklace, cards in pocket, watch, shoes, socks... all acquired by scavenging through Mama Jo's bedroom, who then patiently plays the following game over, and over, and over, and over, and over:

"Are you going to the store??" (Josephine smiles and waves goodbye) "Okay, bye, see you later, call me when you get back!" (Josephine walks around the corner, pauses, waits for precisely the right timing-- oh yes, this 1 year old understands punch lines-- and then scrambles back into view) "Oh! You're back! So good to see you!"
...and over and over and over and over...

trust me, it's not tedious at all, especially when your child wants to play it all day every day for the rest of her life from there on out. :-)
All teasing aside, grandmotherly love is like nothing else in the world! For both Josephine and her mommy, who gets to kick back and enjoy full lack of responsibility. It's a beautiful thing.

I also took a few pictures after the graveside service. Of course, they fail to reveal exactly how gorgeous the weather was for the service, and my snapshot camera just doesn't do anything justice. The service was presided over by a relative, Tracy Sims, and he did a great job balancing sincerity and the humor with which Sean's granddad lived his life. The casket and flowers were beautiful.

You might recognize the gravesite from a post I wrote last year. It adds a new dimension to the reality of a grave when you see the hole dug and a vault waiting:

The tent under which the service was held out at Lost Prairie Cemetary. This was after the service, when some folks had stayed around to talk:
Below you can see a guest book and a stack of the memorial cards. Though I never knew De in his prime, I got to look through a lot of photos of him as Sean and his family sought out one to use on the front page of the memorial cards. It seems to me that in some cases, the hardest thing about a death doesn't come immediately after the death. It sets in after that stage where you feel relief that the sick individual is no longer suffering. Once those feelings of suffering and relief fade, you can start to focus on the whole of the person-- and that, it seems to me, is the hard part. You're talking an entire individual, who touched SO many people. As we looked through photos it was evident how much he'd charmed Sean every weekend, how much Gam loved him, and just generally, what a lively character he was. Even when you're prepared for a death (for years, really), it is still a loss of a life that was long and fruitful.
Like I said above, I'm incredibly grateful we were able to be there to celebrate that life.