Grandma Gigi and Her Grandson, Henry |
Evie and James |
Our Hosts for the Weekend, Evie's sister Claire and Son, David |
Well, it’s 5:45 and I am sitting in Evie’s sister Claire’s house in Scottsdale, sans Internet (something happened to it over night), a terrible feeling, like I lost my favorite dog. Just kidding. So, I am forced to listen to MSNBC and write a word document about our stay here in Arizona. And it’s the first time in a week when I have paid any attention to the news, to the ‘fiscal cliff,’ and all the political posturing on Capital Hill. Boring! When Claire got up, she was able to fix the Internet, so by 8:00, I was back on line, a happy camper.
Breakfast at Dot's with Laura and Family |
Evie and her Niece, Kianna |
We were up early yesterday, as I had to take Jill to the airport, leaving at 7:00, an easy twenty five minute ride there. Little traffic either way, I stopped for coffee, went back to the condo, and we packed up and checked out by 9:00. We went over to Dot's house, spent the morning talking with Laura, Leah, and Pat, who were leaving for Las Vegas around noon. Elaine brought over a dozen Einstein bagels for breakfast, along with three different smears. Yum
We moved our bags over to my sister in law’s house and spent
the afternoon there, with Beth and other family before the gang of cousin’s left
for the airport around 2:00. We were
left with Evie’s sisters Claire and Jean, and Jean’s daughter, husband, and two
sons. We ended up babysitting for the
two boys, so Jennifer and Robert could get a break, go out and have dinner on their
own. We spent most of our time taking
the boys for a walk and playing outside in the park behind Claire’s house. We sat on the lawn, brought out a bottle of
Sauvignon Blanc, and enjoyed watching the boys crawl on the lawn as dusk approached. Jen’s family
left around 6:00, to take the boys to bed, and the quiet in Claire’s house was
deafening. Three Petkovsek sisters and were left with me. We had a great time replaying the past four
days, sipping wine, and ended up getting take out from my father in law’s
favorite Chinese Restaurant, George’s, quite an name for an Asian
Restaurant. When George heard that Ed
had died, he gave us a bottle of wine.
Nice guy.
We sat around till about 8:00, when Jean drove home and then
the three of us, all fans of The Good Wife, watched it on TV then went to bed
and read before falling asleep about 10:15, tired from the lack of sleep the
previous night.
Today, we will drive to the airport around 11:00, then fly
to Kansas City, arriving at 5:00. It’s
been a sad but also wonderful week with family, many we have seen very little
of over the past ten years. It always
amazes me how a simple word like ‘family’ is so powerful a force. The cousins, for example, had not seen each
other in probably 15 years, yet they ended up having great fun together, promised to stay
in touch, friended each other on Facebook if they had not already done so. I guess that’ the ultimate goal of a funeral,
to bring the family back together, renew ties, mourn for the loss and then go
on, with stronger family ties, promises to keep more in touch.
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