Uncle Frank

K and I drove to Uncle Frank's memorial service yesterday.
Three and a half hours each way - from temperate to winter in a morning.
Uncle Frank was a very dear man and it was wonderful to hear his son recount his gentle life whilst looking at slides of his carvings...he was good and old and lived his life the way he liked to.
Back at K's cousin's home (surrounded by family and three feet of snow) we ate that delicious kind of food you really only eat after a funeral...casseroles and hams brought by neighbors, desserts designed to cheer - we couldn't wait around long enough to sample the homemade (!) cream puffs but we ate well enough to feel stuffed on the ride home.

So, that was yesterday.
Today: housework, laundry and waiting for a storm.

Comments

Chris said…
So sorry for you families loss. It sounds like he was a dear man.

Comfort food...mmm.
Anonymous said…
I am sorry for your loss.
Paola
Anonymous said…
Uncle Frank sounds like he lived a good life--making it to a ripe old age--doing the things he liked to do--with family around him.

I'm sorry for his loss, though.

A storm? With snow?

Sounds rather wintry.

It was 52 degrees and sunny here today.

My daffodils are finally starting to poke through the ground.
MsCellania said…
Sorry about dear old Uncle Frank. He sounds like a peach of a fellow. The one thing I really miss about living so far away from 15 aunts and uncles is the inability to attend funerals. I try to make it for weddings, but now there are so many funerals (it's the worst thing about getting older; well that sounded stupid - I mean all the older relatives dying!).
A friend of mine now pays her 12 and 15 yo boys $25 each to help her clean their house - to her standards. It cuts her time way down, the boys are learning life skills and they have their own spending money which is teaching them budgeting. They are also responsible for providing one meal each a week. They can elect to purchase prepared food, but it comes out of their money, not the household money. If they cook, she buys the ingredients from a list they prepare. She said these things have changed their lives. I don't know if I'll have the chutzpah to do this with our sons, but I'm watching her success and going hmmmmmmmmm? She said it was 6 weeks of hell getting them to clean properly and not whiz-bang through stuff and the worst was the 'pick up/put back where it belongs' ahead of time.
Mary said…
I am sorry for the loss of Uncle Frank who sounds lovely.

You drove Australian distances to get to his memorial.
Badger said…
Aw, I'm so sorry. And I want to see the carvings.
Amy A. said…
It sounds like the best kind of funeral, if there is a best kind.
Paula said…
Good and old, living life as he pleased. What a lovely legacy (although I'm sure there is much, much more he leaves with you all) for you to share with us.

Thinking of you and your family dear bb.
Pretty Things said…
I'm really sorry. But it sounds like he was remembered in such a lovely way.
Anonymous said…
I agree with what Amy A. said. And I know you didn't have to run out at the last minute to try to find something black to wear, so that's good.

I hope those who are grieving him most are doing okay.

jbhat
Anonymous said…
A family populated with kind and loving and creative people is a special gift that we all wish we had. You are lucky to have it. I am so sorry for your loss, but so happy that you had Uncle Frank during his life.
Miz S said…
Sounds like a lovely gathering to celebrate a life lived well. Enjoy the snow tomorrow. Maybe you can stay home?
Mrs. G. said…
Stay warm chicklet.
K must have fond memories of Uncle Frank to do all that travelling for his funeral.

My family tends to live into their 90's. Funerals are the only times all the cousins see each other.

PS: Spring is in 3 weeks.
Anonymous said…
You don't hear of many memorials like that anymore. They are the sweetest kind, and I'm glad there was one for dear Uncle Frank.

ErinH
The Coffee Lady said…
Did the storm come?

It's lovely that you have such warm memories of your uncle.