August: Missouri, Grandpa's Funeral, and Back in Ithaca

The Summer

Dave and I just got back into town a few days ago. It's Saturday night and he's already at the law school meeting with people about Law Review and mentoring and just stuff. We've had lots of good time together since we've gotten back. We ran errands together and went to the park and watched movies. It's been nice. I hope and hope that this year won't be as insanely busy as last year, but everyone says that although Law Review is a privilage and an honor, it's also busy. So, I guess you take what you can get.

The summer was good. Hot. Humid. A bit unrestful. When we first got there, my dad announced that he had bought a drive-in. So naturally, I went every day for the first month or so to help clean the place up and get it ready. Lots of hard hard work most of the beginning of the summer. I'll admit, it was nice to get out and up and do some hard work. It gave me lots of energy, and I slept well. We left for the month of July to travel out west so that Dave could meet with people from some firms and network. It went very well over all. We spent a lot of time with his family and saw a lot of old friends. The only regret was that it was very hard on Audrey to travel so much for so long. She was such a trooper though. Near the end of that trip, I found out that I was pregnant (not a huge surprise) and was thrilled to discover that I hadn't gotten sick yet. I spoke too soon. A week or so after we found out, the old sickness set in a gain and the trip got just a little bit worse. Those last few weeks in Missouri were nice to regroup, but I was full on pregnant and sick. Oh well. What can you do, right?

The biggest thing happened the last week we were there. My grandpa, my dad's dad, died; and all of the sudden we were changing all plans to revolve around a funeral. I was asked to write the eligy, which was a very big job, but all in all I think it turned out very well. I sang a few songs at the funeral. I can't say that I really cried ever. In fact, I know I didn't at all. It wasn't that I wasn't sad, it was just very surreal. It was so much more painful for me to see how miserable and broken he was sitting in that wheelchair, no legs, just watching basketball on TV. That wasn't the man he was. He was so much tougher and harder than that, and yet he was forced to such a hugely dependant state. It was just humiliating to him. So, his death was a relief more than anything. And the timing was perfect, it would have been much worse for me if we couldn't have made it back for the funeral. Every single person in my extended family was there. No exaggeration. It was absolutely amazing. It was very nice to see everyone. So, you see, there were a ton of good things that came out of this death. But, I do miss him a ton too.

The following Sunday, a few days after the funeral, David and I gave talks in church and I had to sing. It was such a busy week that we just sorta scrambled together and left when it was time. It's good to get back to our usual lives, but I do miss my family.

If I could describe the summer in one word, it would probably be "busy." It was so totally busy that I'm glad it's over. Ithaca weather is heaven compared to the Missouri heat, and it's quiet and private, and Audrey has her own space and schedule set back into place. Our friends will be here soon and that will be great. We missed them a lot. Tomorrow we'll see a lot of them at church.