Last spring when Tom’s grandson and his mom visited the farm, she wanted a Solomon’s seal so we dug it up. But it got forgotten on the backside of the house and spent the last year in its pot by the back steps. So I was determined to remember it this year and brought it with me to the funeral.
I was picked up by the paternal grandmother of Tom’s grandson at 9:30AM and we had an uneventful drive to Connecticut.
The first thing we saw was a lot of fire trucks at the venue for the service. Tom’s dad had been very active in the fire department and this was their tribute to him.
The ladder was extended and a large flag hung from the end. This little chapel at the cemetery is where Tom was married.
Tom’s family
It was his dad’s custom on Memorial Day to open the chapel and hand out coffee and doughnuts to passersby. So there was coffee and doughnuts inside.
Tom and grandson in the chapel, with the stained glass
We all stood around the chapel and visited until it was time for the service to begin.
It was amazing the number of people who turned out for the funeral. His dad was well known and liked.
It was a lovely service, with various members of the family reading poems together, Tom and siblings did eulogies, and my #2 intern sang a song she had written for her grandparents when they renewed vows last November.
Most people held it together until the song. That did them in.
Each section of the family stood together to toss a flower onto the casket. Tom’s grandson really liked this part and tossed in a dozen or so.
We went a couple miles away to a fellowship hall for soldiers and emergency personnel for the reception. There was lots of wonderful food. My favorite was a sort of gingerbread fudge someone made.
I rode back with the grandmother mid afternoon. It was nice out and I hoped to go to the gardens, even got dressed to go out, but I ran out of gas just then.
On Friday my helper friend arrives at 8AM and I’m hoping we can get one row of Walla onions planted and mulched before he goes at noon. It’s to rain during the night on Friday but I’m hoping I can get another row done in the afternoon on Saturday when it’s stopped.