My uncle had been sick for a very long time, and though death is never easy-even when you know they are truly better off- my family definitely believes in celebration over mourning...as you can see here XD
If one day our progeny happens to read through my posts, these are the moments worth documenting :)
The funeral was planned extremely fast, my uncle having departed just three days beforehand, so unfortunately a couple of cousins were not able to attend. But it was still a pretty awesome reunion on Long Island, the origin place of us all :)
My cousin Brad had the idea to plant a blossoming apple tree in his memory- did you know if you order it through the funeral home they choose where it goes,and you have to visit it?
So we didn't do that, nah, we just picked one up to plant in the front yard of my Aunt Karen and cousin Brittany's duplex :0)
Brad would definitely have to laugh at my use of "we", since he did all of the work XD
Ah, the three musketeers. I have never known life without these two- Heather was a year and ten months old, Brad ten months, when I came into the world. Since our moms are twins, we grew up as close as siblings.
Inseparable as children, still the best of friends as adults :)
Of course living in different states can make it hard to see each other as often as we'd like, and with our own families and the general bustle of life it's extremely rare for it to be just the three of us. So when I had the opportunity to grab a hotel room with them for the night, I took it!
We shut off the lights at midnight, Heather and I cozy in one bed, Brad in the other...and did exactly what we used to do, talked until we fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning :0)
Words aren't adequate enough to express how awesome that was. We took it for granted during all of our childhood through teenage years sleepovers, as young people tend to do. This time though, we treasured every moment :)
Here's Mama dreemit, the last time she saw her brother just over a year ago 😢❤️
I wasn't able to be there, but my brother spent some quality time with the cousins on that trip :)
(Which is particularly great considering he is one of those who couldn't make it on this one)
The year was 1960 😍 Don't you just love the outfits? straight out of an old TV show, Left to right- mom's twin (Aunt Joyce), Uncle Ed, and Mama dreemit. :0)
My Uncle Ed was in the Marine Corps, so they did the traditional military funeral- (honestly most of it is quite boring to watch, but the very beginning with the trumpet is nice :)
And the year was 1977 (the greatest year of all time :D ) Left to right- Uncle Ed, Aunt Karen, Mama dreemit, Papa dreemit, Aunt Joyce anddd baby dreemit (aren't I a cute pudge? 😆)
Must be Uncle Willy taking the picture, which reminds me of a fun fact-- there's not a single divorce on both sides of my family! My grandparents, aunts and uncles, all of my cousins; and of course myself and my brother- we Iseley/Greco's mate for life❤️♾️
Once upon a time I had a picture with all of the cousins when we were young, this is unfortunately the only one I can find of both sides of the family, and it's missing three of us.
But it does feature the three musketeers :0)
Brad to the left, Heather and I to the immediate right...haha, couldn't tell you what I'm doing, my best guess is someone was threatening to pop a balloon- I hated that XD
This week was yet another reminder of the temporary nature of life. Don't forget to tell your precious people that you love them, you never know how much time you have.