Simple Recap
Sunday, October 22nd, 2023 02:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio |
Simple recap of the weekend so far...
Friday morning, I got up and dressed in my suit for the funeral, then went downstairs to take the puppy outside and we sat in the back yard with the cats as has been per usual for so many months now.
While out there, the guy came to deliver the chairs and tables, which he set in stacks in the back yard.
Not long after we came inside, the doorbell rang and it was Jason, an old friend of mine and Tim's from our teenage years, who we invited to this family event.
It was great to see Jason after 20 years, but then Colleen & Celina arrived, and we got the urn and went with them in their car to the church.
Everybody met us at the church, including Brian and Dylan.
We did the whole funeral mass, and Father Leake, the preiest who not only knew Dad well, but was a religion class teacher for most of us siblings in years past, chose to do a super guilt-trip monologue talking about how our dad was a good Catholic, who tried to show us the path to salvation... so we needed to come back to church, or we'd all go to Hell.
After suffering thorugh that bullshit, we made it to the cemetery, where they put Dad's urn into the ground next to Mom, and we all threw flowers into the hole.
From there we went to a nearby restaurant... a party of 23... and had brunch.
After that, people broke off to their respective Air B&Bs to nap or do whatever, and Jason and I came back to the house. Brian, Karen & Max joined us there.
We all hung out in the back yard and after a while, got the fire started in the pit.
It took a few hours for family to start showing up, as the sun was going down, but it turned into a huge-ass party at the house that lasted until 2AM, with a fire going on in the back yard, and the whole house wide open and everybody free to explore and mingle upstairs, downstairs, and in the basement.
I do not think the house has ever seen such a fully immersive, and extended party, in it's history!
It was a kind of beautiful chaos with family all over the place, that lasted until 2AM.
Every bit the memorable night I hoped it would be, for everybody.
And then after everybody had left, Jason and I sat down at the kitchen table to have one last beer before he went to bed in Dad's room, and I went upstairs... and we sat there talking until 5AM!
I slept in until 1PM on Saturday, and came downstairs to find Jason awake, and reading the one copy of the house history I had bound.
He'd already taken Yvette for three walks... cleaned up from the party, and was on his second cup of coffee.
We went out almost immediately to join Tim and the rest at Jakes Bagels, a little place by the train station downtown, and after we all ate and had our coffee, we went to the cemetery again.
Colleen & Sheila had a decorative saddle of fake flowers to put over Mom & Dad's headstone, but we also just explored the cemetery a bit and enjoyed the fall afternoon there.
And after that, we went to Phillips' Park... the big city park a mile away.
After the park, everybody split up again, but Jason and Dylan came back with me to the house.
My black printer ink had arrived, so I was in the back room printing up two new copies of the house history as Jason and Dylan sat at the kitchen table just talking, and occasionally I'd jump into the conversation... which I could half hear from the back room.
That went on for three hours or so, and then it was time to get back in my van and go to the roundhouse, where we joined everybody else for a night of celebration in the Zephyr Room.
And after that, several people went home, but several more came back to the house to hang out again until 2AM.
After everybody left, Jason went to bed downstairs, and I came upstairs... where I'm writing now.
And I was happy to find that both Snoop and Prowly were waiting for me up here, and I fed them both, before they ran back off... Prowly down the stairs, and Snoop, out the window.
So the cats and dog have all survived this whole experience!
Kevin & Monica will be leaving this morning, as will Jason... so we've already said our goodbyes to them
The rest of us will reconvene at some point today, though it's kind of unscructured, other than we're going to Gario's Pizza in the evening.
I'm hoping to get more copies printed of the house history, and all of them bound, before everybody leaves.
I did not take any photos or video of this event, but I did get quite a lot of audio recorded... of everybody hanging out on Friday, and Saturday night.
And I guess I'll get more audio tonight.
So... eventually I'll process that audio and post the highlights on SoundCloud, and link it here.
This entry is just a quick update to recap what's been going on.
But the full impact of this event will take a while to unpack and examine.
It's been a great experience for everybody, that does look to have a lasting impact on the future.
There was much talk of doing this every October.
And while it may not play out that way in practice, I think it will still lead to continued October reunions for decades to come... but maybe not every single year.
We'll just have to see!
So... it's been great so far... it's not over... I do have audio... and I'll go into more depth about this event in the weeks to come.
Don't know when the next entry will be, but probably Monday or Tuesday night.
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