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First, thanks to everyone, again, for all the wonderful support... It's meant a lot. I passed the word on to the rest of the family about you guys (don't worry, I didn't give any URL's, your secrets are still safe with me ;))
So, i guess I'll post about the past few days. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but my boss rented me a car. While she was working out the details on that, she kept asking for the location of the funeral and the time. I gave her Mark's info, because they don't want flowers, but are taking donations. I thought she wanted to send flowers to the funeral, but she said, even after that, she wanted location/time. Then I got a bit freaked "I hope they aren't actually going to come!" But Rose thought maybe they were going to have a prayer vigil thingy, and let the minister know that. Which made sense.
The car she rented was a Grand Marquis. First, it's a gas hog, but god DAMN if that car isn't a smooth ride. I already thanked them first thing for renting the car (and a few times after that), but after riding in it, it really was wonderful... My sister and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sophy both have fibromyalgia, and that was what they really needed. I could've gotten along with my car (would've been a bit of a pain, but doable, for me)... I seriously don't know if they would've made it in my car, though.
On the way up, Holly kept playing back seat driver, and I was also getting annoyed at her cigarette addiction and need to smoke all the time (i.e. stop, as 1)sophy has allergies/asthma, and 2) it was a rented car)) She did pretty good at not needing to stop only for that, but it still just added to the time. I was getting cranky near the last third of the trip. Anyways, back seat driver... "So, you're looking for County M???" "No... County Road 5 (I don't fully recall)" "OK, so county M" "No, Holly..." So annoying. Anyways, on the main road towards her house, I kept an eye out for the spot the accident happened. I saw a cross/flower thing someone set up (though it was on what I thought the opposite side of the road, but who knows) I didn't say anything, cuz I was sure Holly would just freak out. I told Rosemary later.
OK, so. We got to Mark's house and my dad was waiting for us. He was going to drive us to the funeral home. I was pretty fine at that point. Holly (my sister) was pretty emotional, even on the ride up. I gave my dad a hug when we got there. He said he was doing a bit better, of course, it's still hard for him.
A neighbor was walking his little dog, and my dad talked to the guy, and was like "I had a dog like that once... Killed a doberman!"
" I'm gonna have to use that story, Jack!"
"Wanna hear how he killed him?"
"I don't know about that..."
"He got stuck in his throat!"
"You can keep that one," says the guy as he walks away with his dog.
That's my dad, always making jokes...
sophy had to use the bathroom and I went in their house around that time (Dad and Holly stayed outside to smoke a cig). There was a black cat (Pumpkin, I would later find out his name was), and a white/gray spotted cat (Peanut) inside. Peanut was under a chair, but Pumpkin was sitting at the top of the stairs. I went up and petted him (god damn I love cats). He just sat there, content.
Shannon ran a day care in her basement, so around the house were all sorts of things from her kids she took care of (not specially put up for this, just like you normally would hang kids stuff up). It was tough to see that the most, knowing how these kids would be affected. A tear started to roll down my face, and all of a sudden, I felt Pumpkin brush up against my arm, comforting me. Cat's are good at that.
We left to the funeral home... When we got there, there was a mini service. I guess there may have been a couple that day, I don't recall. Photo boards were set outside, and a friend of Mark's family made a slideshow DVD. So that was a bit tough to watch.
It's so crazy to see all these old photos, some I don't recall, some I do. Shannon was anorexic in High School, and was supposedly "cured"... Afterwards, Holly said that she wasn't better, and that we were in denial. We all thought she was fine. But looking back at those pictures, and seeing how thing she was even when she married Mark (3 years after her graduation), really made me realize that we were in denial about it. Fortunately, she was able to go beyond and finally accepted herself. It was hard to see those pictures. Got to see our old cat, Sassy. That was nice :)
I cried then, and my dad put his arm around me and said "She was a good sister, huh?" And I said "Yeah, even when she was picking on me..."
The service was still going... Dad said "if it's not done in 5 minutes, whaddya say we go in and kick 'em out" haha... Rosemary (if you haven't figured out by now, that'ssophy for all you playing along at home) and I went into a side office to just kinda let it out, when more people started to come in. People were streaming by after the service.
We went in, and saw mom, and a bunch of people we knew from back home. Hugs all around, of course... Went up to the casket. I thought she looked pretty good, all things considered. Dad said "what really helped me was touching her hand... You should try it..." Then my crazy sister comes up "Yeah, Dave, touch her hand!" And they both kinda did that encouragement thing, but it just got a bit creepy. Dad caught on, and was like, no you can do it when you're ready, but Holly kept saying it. It was a bit like mixing Beavis and Butthead "Yeah yeah... fire, fire!!!" in that excited sort of way, with some demonic "TOUCH HER HAND"... So of course, all that pressure to do something I wasn't ready made me resist more. Dad got Holly to zip it.
So then as they let me be there with Rosemary standing at the casket, a bit of tears streaming down, I had the brief flash of Shannon sitting up in the casket. Then the concept came to me: Zombie Shannon!
And I have an idea for a couple comic panels. The other one, I'll save for "Day 2". "Zombie Shannon picks on her kid brother"... (showing a picture of zombie Shannon poking at my brains) Haven't figured out the best way to do that... But it sure was funny to me then.
Anyways, it was nice to see all these people there.
Went to Mark's house, and Holly got a place to stay with the neighbors, which was probably the best thing for everyone involved. Stayed there with some friends and family, then ended up leaving to go tovesicular's house about 45 minutes away. So wonderful to have good friends like that, and be able to get away from all the people. I was fucking half asleep by that point, my eyes all bloodshot from driving 10 hours at least, and crying...
Then the exit is all weird, and I remember something about this, but didn't know what, exactly the details were, but there's an exit to get from 494 to 94. The sign says "left two lanes, are the 94 exit" So I get all the way to the left, thinking it'll veer off. You know, like any other fucking sign would indicate... Nope! After the underpass, I see 94, WAY on the RIGHT hand side. WTF? I understand why that's the case (rush hour merging) but what a PITA... And I KNOW brent (vesicular said something to that effect, but I didn't quite understand til I saw it. So, I'm speeding up to get in front of another car to drive across 3 lanes to get to the exit in a short amount of time. Fortunately I made it.
Got to Brent's, and unloaded and just kinda hanged briefly, but we went to sleep right away cuz we needed to get up early (7:30 for me)... Got to pet Brent and Annette's Ragdoll cat, Cooper... He's more tame than he used to be... Such a cute little furball :)
That's mostly the end of day 1... If there's anything else,sophy or vesicular that I missed that you can think of, add it in the comments...
For days 2 and 3:
Expect more Zombie Shannon, an unexpected visit, sympathies, old friends, more sadness, and more funniness.
So, i guess I'll post about the past few days. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but my boss rented me a car. While she was working out the details on that, she kept asking for the location of the funeral and the time. I gave her Mark's info, because they don't want flowers, but are taking donations. I thought she wanted to send flowers to the funeral, but she said, even after that, she wanted location/time. Then I got a bit freaked "I hope they aren't actually going to come!" But Rose thought maybe they were going to have a prayer vigil thingy, and let the minister know that. Which made sense.
The car she rented was a Grand Marquis. First, it's a gas hog, but god DAMN if that car isn't a smooth ride. I already thanked them first thing for renting the car (and a few times after that), but after riding in it, it really was wonderful... My sister and
sophy both have fibromyalgia, and that was what they really needed. I could've gotten along with my car (would've been a bit of a pain, but doable, for me)... I seriously don't know if they would've made it in my car, though.On the way up, Holly kept playing back seat driver, and I was also getting annoyed at her cigarette addiction and need to smoke all the time (i.e. stop, as 1)
sophy has allergies/asthma, and 2) it was a rented car)) She did pretty good at not needing to stop only for that, but it still just added to the time. I was getting cranky near the last third of the trip. Anyways, back seat driver... "So, you're looking for County M???" "No... County Road 5 (I don't fully recall)" "OK, so county M" "No, Holly..." So annoying. Anyways, on the main road towards her house, I kept an eye out for the spot the accident happened. I saw a cross/flower thing someone set up (though it was on what I thought the opposite side of the road, but who knows) I didn't say anything, cuz I was sure Holly would just freak out. I told Rosemary later.OK, so. We got to Mark's house and my dad was waiting for us. He was going to drive us to the funeral home. I was pretty fine at that point. Holly (my sister) was pretty emotional, even on the ride up. I gave my dad a hug when we got there. He said he was doing a bit better, of course, it's still hard for him.
A neighbor was walking his little dog, and my dad talked to the guy, and was like "I had a dog like that once... Killed a doberman!"
" I'm gonna have to use that story, Jack!"
"Wanna hear how he killed him?"
"I don't know about that..."
"He got stuck in his throat!"
"You can keep that one," says the guy as he walks away with his dog.
That's my dad, always making jokes...
sophy had to use the bathroom and I went in their house around that time (Dad and Holly stayed outside to smoke a cig). There was a black cat (Pumpkin, I would later find out his name was), and a white/gray spotted cat (Peanut) inside. Peanut was under a chair, but Pumpkin was sitting at the top of the stairs. I went up and petted him (god damn I love cats). He just sat there, content. Shannon ran a day care in her basement, so around the house were all sorts of things from her kids she took care of (not specially put up for this, just like you normally would hang kids stuff up). It was tough to see that the most, knowing how these kids would be affected. A tear started to roll down my face, and all of a sudden, I felt Pumpkin brush up against my arm, comforting me. Cat's are good at that.
We left to the funeral home... When we got there, there was a mini service. I guess there may have been a couple that day, I don't recall. Photo boards were set outside, and a friend of Mark's family made a slideshow DVD. So that was a bit tough to watch.
It's so crazy to see all these old photos, some I don't recall, some I do. Shannon was anorexic in High School, and was supposedly "cured"... Afterwards, Holly said that she wasn't better, and that we were in denial. We all thought she was fine. But looking back at those pictures, and seeing how thing she was even when she married Mark (3 years after her graduation), really made me realize that we were in denial about it. Fortunately, she was able to go beyond and finally accepted herself. It was hard to see those pictures. Got to see our old cat, Sassy. That was nice :)
I cried then, and my dad put his arm around me and said "She was a good sister, huh?" And I said "Yeah, even when she was picking on me..."
The service was still going... Dad said "if it's not done in 5 minutes, whaddya say we go in and kick 'em out" haha... Rosemary (if you haven't figured out by now, that's
sophy for all you playing along at home) and I went into a side office to just kinda let it out, when more people started to come in. People were streaming by after the service.We went in, and saw mom, and a bunch of people we knew from back home. Hugs all around, of course... Went up to the casket. I thought she looked pretty good, all things considered. Dad said "what really helped me was touching her hand... You should try it..." Then my crazy sister comes up "Yeah, Dave, touch her hand!" And they both kinda did that encouragement thing, but it just got a bit creepy. Dad caught on, and was like, no you can do it when you're ready, but Holly kept saying it. It was a bit like mixing Beavis and Butthead "Yeah yeah... fire, fire!!!" in that excited sort of way, with some demonic "TOUCH HER HAND"... So of course, all that pressure to do something I wasn't ready made me resist more. Dad got Holly to zip it.
So then as they let me be there with Rosemary standing at the casket, a bit of tears streaming down, I had the brief flash of Shannon sitting up in the casket. Then the concept came to me: Zombie Shannon!
And I have an idea for a couple comic panels. The other one, I'll save for "Day 2". "Zombie Shannon picks on her kid brother"... (showing a picture of zombie Shannon poking at my brains) Haven't figured out the best way to do that... But it sure was funny to me then.
Anyways, it was nice to see all these people there.
Went to Mark's house, and Holly got a place to stay with the neighbors, which was probably the best thing for everyone involved. Stayed there with some friends and family, then ended up leaving to go to
vesicular's house about 45 minutes away. So wonderful to have good friends like that, and be able to get away from all the people. I was fucking half asleep by that point, my eyes all bloodshot from driving 10 hours at least, and crying...Then the exit is all weird, and I remember something about this, but didn't know what, exactly the details were, but there's an exit to get from 494 to 94. The sign says "left two lanes, are the 94 exit" So I get all the way to the left, thinking it'll veer off. You know, like any other fucking sign would indicate... Nope! After the underpass, I see 94, WAY on the RIGHT hand side. WTF? I understand why that's the case (rush hour merging) but what a PITA... And I KNOW brent (
vesicular said something to that effect, but I didn't quite understand til I saw it. So, I'm speeding up to get in front of another car to drive across 3 lanes to get to the exit in a short amount of time. Fortunately I made it.Got to Brent's, and unloaded and just kinda hanged briefly, but we went to sleep right away cuz we needed to get up early (7:30 for me)... Got to pet Brent and Annette's Ragdoll cat, Cooper... He's more tame than he used to be... Such a cute little furball :)
That's mostly the end of day 1... If there's anything else,
sophy or vesicular that I missed that you can think of, add it in the comments...For days 2 and 3:
Expect more Zombie Shannon, an unexpected visit, sympathies, old friends, more sadness, and more funniness.
