(no subject)
I had never before been to a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. It was mercifully brief which I think my Grandma would have wanted and appreciated. She enjoyed attention but didn't care much for formality or ceremony and had a severe distaste for the church. While I was there I couldn't help reflect on the different in attendance between her funeral and Tata's in December. Tata had out lived everyone but he also wasn't very out going, as a result my mom's family members, people not related to him, were the only ones who showed up and that was more out of support for us. My Grandma had more than 50 people show up for a 10 minute interment. Of course, I always think of my mom's side of the family as big but that's just because of structure. My dad might be an only child but my grandmother is the youngest of 11 and being born Catholic all her other siblings had at least 8 children. There was a packed house full of women who talked and looked like her, olive skin and the Damiano nose, and voices stained by cigarettes sharing the same inflections and phrases as my grandmother. Twice when Donna Jean talked I was startled because I thought I heard my Grandmother. I do enjoy her extended family, much in the same way I did her. My Grandma had her flaws like any human but she was a lot of fun and she was extremely good at being a grandmother. She was a great cook, she baked great desserts, she taught me how to sneak treats without my parents finding out, she was a refuge when I might otherwise get in trouble, and she spoiled me rotten as a child.
Luckily with so many family members there there was a great number of pictures, something my Dad has never cared about. I was able to get them on a disc and this one is my favorite, me and my Grandma when I was 3 and she was 44.
Luckily with so many family members there there was a great number of pictures, something my Dad has never cared about. I was able to get them on a disc and this one is my favorite, me and my Grandma when I was 3 and she was 44.