Laughter, Tears and Memories

As you can tell I am back home. And honestly, I am exhausted. I flew out at 9 am Saturday and came back late Sunday night. Then I pulled an all-nighter Sunday to get two projects for work done, plus we have had school, practice and meetings. And it is just Tuesday.

This weekend was hard, but it was also one of those bittersweet good times. Our family is scattered between Ohio, Indiana, New York, North Carolina and even Venezuela. It probably has been over 12 years since we have all been in one place at the same time, if not longer.


Saturday night we sat around Aunt Pauline's condo over indulging in food and alcoholic beverages, looking at old photo albums and sharing memories. I loved to just sit and listen to all the stories from when my mom, aunts, uncles and cousins were little. I learned that my Aunt Pauline was an incredibly strong Christian woman who lived through and survived some very hard times. Her family was her world and nothing would change that.

As my mom said during her eulogy at the funeral, if anyone had passed outside Saturday night they would have heard all the laughing and thought we were having a celebration of some sort. And in a small way we were... through all the tears and laughter we were celebrating a life of a very special lady that will live on forever in each of our hearts.