Those I Haven't Seen in Years

I have been remiss in blogging this weekend, but it was out of forced close contact with people and not forgetfulness. I have so much to get down, I'll be breaking it up into at least a couple of posts.

Saturday was the big memorial service for Dad. That morning Kevin and I went to the mall to get shoes for him, since he forgot his dress shoes when we left. While there, he decided to get a haircut. That was all well and fine until forty-five minutes passed and he still wasn't done. Having promised my mom I would be back no later than 11:15, it was now 10:45, we were half an hour from her house, and Kevin still didn't have shoes. I marched out of the waiting room and informed him something to the effect that if he wasn't done right now, he wouldn't have a ride home.

I gave him two minutes in Payless, and he found a pair of shoes and bought them without even trying them on. Then I power-walked out of the mall, taking the stairs on the escalator two at a time while he huffed along behind me and begged me to slow down. When he started to make sarcastic comments about me being mad at him for the rest of the day, I told him, "This is not a good day to give me shit, so don't." And he stopped.

Fortunately mom wasn't annoyed when we reached the house, just in a hurry, and I began a whirlwind of multi-tasking, loading up her car and mine, getting dressed, doing my makeup, and chasing her around the house, the whole time toting around a bowl of mini-wheats and stuffing them down between tasks.

We arrived at the church about an hour before the service, and mom parked herself in the kitchen at the Little Brown House to set up the reception while Kevin and I provided tech support at the church itself, setting up everything that was needed for the slideshow. My accompanist who was doubling as the service organist was there practicing, and he helped us to move the pulpit and the chairs into the back room so everything was set up the way mom wanted it. I let Kevin set up the rest of our equipment while I got out my violin for a quick practice.

Wren had come in about forty minutes early, and I pointed her to the LBR when she asked for a bathroom. When she failed to reappear, I realized my mom had roped her into kitchen duty. Eben showed up just as I finished tightening my bow, and I was so excited to see him that I ran the length of the church before I realized I hadn't put the instrument down. Not wanting to put it on the floor, I bear-hugged him anyway and tried not to whack him in the head with it.

Theoretically I knew the guest list for the service, but in all the frenzy I hadn't bothered to remember just how many people from my past were showing up. Fortunately they were all good surprises when I spotted them, and all received hugs and "Oh my god I haven't seen you in so long!" My mom's neighbor, my second violin teacher, my grade-school teacher, and one of my oldest friend's mom and dad, who had separated several years ago but are fortunately still civil to each other. I haven't heard a thing from that friend in years, and I still miss her. When her mom informed me that she was no longer three thousand miles away and was in fact only one state over, I just about jumped up and down in excitement. I have to find her before she disappears again.

Anyway, the service itself was absolutely perfect. While some might say that my mom took on too much of the work herself, that's just the way she operates (kinda like me...hm...), and she did a beautiful job. She even managed to say everything she wanted to say without breaking down, something I wouldn't even have attempted. Two of my uncles and one of my dad's friends shared stories about him, the Freemasons did their traditional service, and I played Pachelbel's Canon and Gigue in D with accompaniment.

Struggling with the sheet music, I managed to miss a few notes, but I'm good at catching up again without making any accompanying musicians wait for me - a talent all orchestral players are forced to learn, and fast. I wasn't too worried about the mistakes, but I was still surprised at the number of people who came up to me afterwards with comments such as, "That was so beautiful! You play so well!" The first one was Wren; she was sitting behind me, and when I sat back down she whispered, "Wow, I didn't know you could do that." Most of my college friends, with the exception of Eben, have never heard me play anything at all.

By the time the reception started, I had the full-body shakes from lack of food, and I headed straight for the table and started stuffing my face. It was a whirlwind of talking and food, greeting people who were completely unfamiliar but who apparently remembered me. "We met you when you were this tall!" they said, holding a hand three feet off the floor and smiling inanely.

Great, and who the hell are you again?

Wren eventually took off to meet up with her boyfriend, after helping us to take down our stuff and put the church back together. Eben followed me and Kevin to my sister's house where the family was gathering, then took off when the party moved to my mom's place. There was more food and more family craziness, and by the time everyone took off I was tired. Kevin and I decided to go out for coffee, and as soon as I got in the car, tired became exhausted, and I nearly fell asleep while I was driving. When we got back to the house, Kevin got out his computer and played poker, and I fell asleep watching the screen with my head underneath his elbow.