Pics

We had a little more time than we expected before a BBQ on Sunday, so we drove out to Dallas to see Dealey Plaza...again. It's always a must-stop when we go out there, a morbid fascination on our part, I guess.

Here's the book "suppository" building. Oswald shot Kennedy (or did he?) from the corner window on the sixth floor.X marks the spot. This picture gives you an idea of the trajectory of the "magic" bullet. The X is presumably where Kennedy was hit for the final time.
See this cute kid? That's my cousin Drew. Speaking of, here's Grandpa and Drew, two handsome lads.When we were at Aunt Terri's, we spent a lot of time in the pool.Pool volleyball. It's a skill, right Uncle Bill?When I took this picture, Nat laughed at me and said, "What are you doing, taking a picture of the alley?" Sure, why not. It's strangely beautiful, wouldn't you say? When you go to Texas, you have to go to Six Flags. At least that's what they say.But who says you have to smell the skunk's tail?You know those rides that are like a big swing, you get wenched up into them, buckled into a harness of sorts, and then you fly through the air on a big arc, back and forth, back and forth. They have one here at Elitches called the XCELER8R. In Texas, it's called Dive Bomb Alley. No, I didn't go on it.

My Mom and brother did. (Video coming soon) I didn't go on the Superman ride either. Been there, done that. Not doing it again. As you can see, Cori was a little scared too. Oh, but you should have seen the smile on her face when it was over.Mom, and her people.
The strange Texas skies as we were leaving.

On my Return

I'm back. Actually, I got back on Tuesday, but decided to take a little break from blogging. Thanks for all the condolences, guys. I'm tapping my chest with my fist and nodding my head. Much appreciated. I'm going to print them up and put them in the family book.

(Uncle Jim will get that joke.)

First things first. I did manage to go down to Texas, but not for Grandma's funeral. Grandma didn't have a funeral. There was no viewing, no somber gathering around a hole in a graveyard, no preacher intoning those ageless words, "From dust to dust." That was Grandma's choice. Instead, she wanted to be cremated and have her ashes spread amongst the Texas blue bonnets during springtime. So next Easter, that's what we will do.

In the mean time, we spent some time with the family, "visiting" as they say. I went down there in a group of my closest relatives, me, my brother, my Mom, Uncle Jim, Aunt Nat, and their two kids, Cori and Drew. We took the same flight, stayed in the same hotel, drove the same rental car, and spent every day together. At a time like this, it was very important.

I won't go into any of the family drama, but suffice to say there was some. It was minor and mostly dealt with by avoidance. Overall, we mourned the way Grandma would want us to, by having fun. I've got a bunch of pictures, the best of which I'll put up for your viewing pleasure.

Other than that, there's only one more thing that needs to be said. All throughout I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that something, someone was missing, but in a very real sense, I also had the sense that she was never very far away.