Called away to Tennessee for the death of my 97 year old Grandmother. We will be away and not online much until 5-March.
Sorry for your family's loss Tom...97 years old is quite an accomplishment and we can all only hope to come close to...
Thanks to all. Two things happened to break the tension during the viewing on Friday evening. The first one: I was standing talking to my 1st cousin Diane. She is 4 years older than I but had such a connection growing up that at 16 years old, she ran away from home and the first call her parents made was to my parents home to wake me up at midnight to ask if I knew where she was. Back to the story: A 70 year old distant relative walked up just as Diane's husband came near. This relative asked: You're Opal's son Tommy I think and is this your wife (pointing to Diane)? Her husband Jim spoke up saying "That's just slightly illegal in Tennessee!" That was the talk of the viewing until the second event occurred. About an hour later... my father, that my mother divorced in 1975, walked in to the viewing. What happened next was not planned... just he is a part of her life that my mother has blocked out of her memory... she looked at him and with an embarrassed look on her face said: "I know I should know who you are but I can't remember your name." Several members of her family would, to this day, rather shoot him than be in the same room with him. For those individuals, it was all they could do to keep from busting out laughing during this somber event.