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la_belle_laideFirst of all, it's so odd to be writing about Grandma's memorial. Sometimes I just can't get past that.
That said, it really was lovely. The weather was gorgeous, just the kind of day Gran loved. She would go outside and whistle to the birds while walking around with her dog on a day like that.
Jo-chan had stayed over the night before and so we finished FFVII (me for the, like, 8th time or something) at around 3:30 that afternoon, then I went to get ready. I had a beautiful gardenia (HUGE) to wear in my hair, so I was pretty pleased about that. Gran loved gardenias. And I gave Jo-chan some jasmine to wear in her hair because Gran loved those, too.
In attendance were some great aunts and uncles and second cousins whom I barely know, some of my cousins' friends I also didn't know too well, my two super sweet neighbors, my aunt Joan, Uncle Ralph as well as of course Chris, Tim and Boychild, Uncle Don, Bets, SB and obviously Jo-chan, my aunt Lori and cousin Celia and her kid Brando, my friend Laura (we share birds,) as well as the Lady Chrysanthemum and the Gold Dragon. In short there were tons of people at my parents' house. It was a little hard to keep track of who was who and where. But it was so amazing to see all of these people turn out to honor my Grandma.
I had printed out tons of pictures of Gran with all different people; all my favorites.
Here are a few of those pics:
I'm not going to cut my favorites. They are small enough. :)
This is Gran on her favorite ride at Disney, Splash Mountain:
She LOVED Splash Mountain, even with (or because of) the massively huge, 45 degree flume drop near the end. :)
Typical Grandma picture, at my parents' table:
That's one of my favorites because that's just exactly how she always looked to me.
The next three are all a toss-up for my absolute all-time favorites.
This is Grandma on New Years Eve 2000, at midnight in Disneyworld, watching the fireworks:
This one is at Epcot Center a few years ago:
She'd gotten one of those riding scooters and she absolutely could not drive it. She clotheslined herself, ran into a statue, and almost ran down a toddler. It was great. At the end of the day she posed with her hat and glasses crooked as if she'd been, well, crashing into things all day. :)
This one could very well be my favorite:
That's at Disney's Polynesian resort. The lovely Auntie Kau'i had given carnation leis to my parents and to Gran, and my friend Jonathan took the picture. He said something funny (my parents can't seem to remember what though,) and obviously Grandma thought it was hilarious. This is the perfect picture.
A few people took some photos home, but I have to email out a few others still.
It went until around 7:30 or 8-ish with Laura and the Gold Dragon the last to leave. Then it was just my parents, Chris, Tim, Boychild and Jo-chan and myself and we hung around until around 9:30.
Then Jo-chan and I went to my house to play RE2, and then she went to my parents' at around 11.
And that's about when our stupidass neighbors (really Chris and Tims neighbors) decided it was the best time to start having a really loud party. Their RIDICULOUSLY LOUD party went on until around 2 AM. But that wasn't the msot exciting thing; oh, no.
At 11:30, everyone in the neighborhood heard about eight thousand cop cars blasting to a halt a few blocks away. There was a lot of "Now WTF could this be?" going on. I wasn't too interested and went to bed, trying to sleep through the noisy neighbors' stupid party. Then at 12 or so I started to hear a helicopter. Only the damn thing wouldn't go away and I was halfway awake thinking, "Gosh, that's a really long helicopter." ( O_O ) I began to wonder if the stupid neighbors weren't running some goddamn tractor or some damn fool thing like that. I looked out of my bedroom window though, and saw it was, in fact, a helicopter, and it was just kind of hovering over the block, with the huge, sweeping lights all over the place. And it did this until around 1:15 or so. Cop cars and canine units going up and down the damn block all the while.
Apparently what happened was there was this robbery in town, and the guy stole a car and raced to Southold with cops on his tail, before turning back and coming back to this town, where he ditched his car and ran into this small group of avenues to hide. This town is basically built on a swamp with tons of tree-cover. The guy got away and eventually they called off the search.
Jo-chan was thinking that maybe the swine virus was really a zombie outbreak and they were quarantining the neighborhood. I was thinking that a ninja was on the loose and he was going to come into my house, and if he was really hot and interesting then I would definitely find out his side of the story before having an honorable fight with him and turning him over if he was guilty of anything.
At around 4:30 AM, Grandma's dog started going crazy barking at something outside. But, maybe it was just the stupid neighbors. :)
That's about it; that's how yesterday went.
Today it hit about 85 degrees and I went for a morning jog with Sano. Jo-chan, Mom and I hung around for a while and then Jo-chan and I finished part one of RE2 (I've played the game through about a thousand times already, so it wasn't too hard.)
Then Chris and Tim and Boychild came to my parents' house and I went up there for dinner and I ate too much of something that didn't sit right and I felt really ill. But I feel better now.
Tomorrow it's going to be about 68 degrees (BOOO! I want it to be hotter!) and I have Kung Fu later that evening.
It's weird that the memorial is over and things are supposed to feel "normal" or something but I have to reconcile the fact that "normal" is going to be really different from now on.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 02:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 05:09 pm (UTC)And you know, honestly? In a really weird way, a zombie apocalypse or a ninja attack would be kinda cool. In a weird way.
:D
Granny K
Date: 2009-04-27 04:51 pm (UTC)I was just thinking of you and the fam.
Jennicula
Re: Granny K
Date: 2009-04-27 05:10 pm (UTC)Well, Gran definitely had her good and bad times in her very long and complicated life. But, in her last seven or so years, she just had peace and happiness, worry free. Just what a retirement should be. She was very happy. ^_^
Your Gran
Date: 2009-04-27 06:39 pm (UTC)Thanks for the pics of your gran. She looks so smiley and happy. She looks like she was so much fun. I almost feel like I met her myself and that is a good feeling.
MissT xxxx
Re: Your Gran
Date: 2009-04-27 06:41 pm (UTC)Granny K
Date: 2009-04-27 07:20 pm (UTC)You have so many wonderful pics of your Granny!
Thanks for sharing her with us.
- Sis M (Nikki)
Re: Granny K
Date: 2009-04-27 08:35 pm (UTC)Gran's Memorial
Date: 2009-04-28 12:46 am (UTC)Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Much love to you, Jules. Sometimes I don't think you realize how truly beautiful and amazing you really are, and I'm so proud to call you my friend.
Re: Gran's Memorial
Date: 2009-04-28 01:55 am (UTC)I'm sure I'm equally if not more honored to call you my friend, too. If I knew who you were, that is. :D
no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 11:28 am (UTC)And zombies attacking? Get yourself some houses on stilts, with retractable staircases!
- PP
xoxo
no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 02:08 pm (UTC)A house on stilts, there are plenty of those around this island! In the event of the zombie apocalypse, I will go and get one for myself. ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-30 12:48 am (UTC)Miss ya and I ♥ ya!
~Smoke~
no subject
Date: 2009-04-30 01:19 am (UTC)