Travalon's Mom's Funeral

 

This morning we went to get our taxes done, and Travalon was sure we would owe, but once again we got refunds. Then we drove to Oconomowoc for his mother's funeral. A bunch of people from Travalon's past were there, and some friends of his, and from Madison Richard Bonomo and Cecil Markovitch came. The service was a generic Christian one, and the part both Cecil and I found funniest was that the organ played the hymns all by itself - I've heard of a player piano, but not a player organ. Plus it kind of sounded like a ballpark organ. The hymns were, for the most part, ones I was vaguely aware of but not super familiar with, like they weren't Catholic ones. The hospice guy gave a really good eulogy, and then Travalon's oldest brother had written one that the minister read. It was a very pleasant, anodyne service, but the eulogies did paint a vivid picture of Travalon's mother. I definitely felt like a part of the family, because there were photos of me on the photo display. Even Ma and Pa Hat were on it.

Afterwards there was a reception with a fruit plate, vegetable plate, cookie plate, and bar plate, but people didn't consume too much. We were going to go to lunch at the fancy restaurant Travalon just found out is in the retirement home, but it had just closed. We ended up with a plate of reception food, a basket full of plants, and a box full of stuffies, but not the green dragon I'd seen in Travalon's mom's room. His oldest brother's wife did find two rosaries, a Seven Sorrows of Mary chaplet, and a very cool miraculous medal that she gave to me, as the only Catholic daughter-in-law. She also gave me a stunning Waterford crystal pin of a harp that Travalon had brought back from Ireland for his mom and that she apparently wore all the time, although I don't remember ever seeing her wear it. It's gorgeous. Photos soon...

Cecil had gone ahead to the closed restaurant, and of course he doesn't have a cell phone, so we were afraid he would find the place closed, get frustrated, and drive back to Madison. However, he couldn't find the restaurant, so he just checked out the beautiful lake and then came back, so he went to lunch in the old train depot with Rich, Travalon, and me. He covered Travalon's lunch, so Rich covered mine. While we were eating, the Empire Builder raced by right outside the restaurant, since of course that's where the tracks are. That was cool. 

When we got home, there was a package for me: the cuddly rosary from Ma Hat made with the yarn that supposedly glowed under blacklight. Of course I immediately tested it, and the results were fabulous.

Travalon suggested that I search for the green dragon online, so I did, and I couldn't find the one his mother had, but I found two much cooler ones, so I have used part of my gift card for jumping through health hoops. One was a Year of the Dragon Rabbit, which sounds weird but is so adorable, oh my goodness! I'll post a photo when it arrives. They were both a little bit pricy, but so was Duck, and it was no disappointment.

I ran around the house for a bit, since we hadn't gotten much exercise today, and then we went swimming, so now I feel a bit over-exerted. This week I've been averaging six minutes a day of vigorous exercise, which at first I thought was a real letdown, since I'd been aiming for eleven minutes, but then I thought, "Hey, I'm halfway there. I'm just working my way up." And who knows - today may have upped that average. I'll check soon.

Famous Hat