Road Trip-Goodbye Uncle Joe

Woke up to a frosty but sunny day, feeling like I slept in a shoebox. I uncurled each limb slowly, surveying the damage.

The 2 day trip to and from New Jersey involved endless traveling, but it was well worth it. Uncle Joe had a wonderful turnout for his send off. Most of the family was there. Cousin Bruce gave his dad a charming, funny eulogy, full of previously unrevealed facts.

As my sister pointed out, the tone was different from the usual family funeral. This was rather relaxed, kinda like how Uncle Joe was. We all were, of course, very sad, but this was no tragedy. What I mean is he lived to be 93; he played golf, drove and had most of his marbles until just a few months ago. He didn't suffer for very long.  Perhaps because there's so much suffering wherever you turn these days, paying tribute to someone who seemed to always be smiling and laughing provided a warm, festive event.

There was much to admire in the way the local police held up traffic and guided the procession through the streets to the cemetery. (I've always found it to be so stressful trying to keep up with the line of cars, especially when stopped for a red light.)

 A young soldier played taps at the graveside, then 2 more carefully synched their movements as they folded the flag that draped the coffin. I smiled at how seriously they took their task, and noticed my cousin hesitate before returning the salute to the tall, uniformed presenter with great posture.

The hardest part was stepping forward to take my turn scooping the dirt for my 3 shovelful allotment. Sobs escaped at the sound of the rocks hitting the box. I stepped away and in a vulnerable, impulsive moment, leaned in to hug my brother. He squeezed me back then opened the circle to include my sister who wiggled her way in for the group hug.