Moving On

It's me again--returned home from my road trip with some icky flu-like symptoms. Just where I picked them up, I'm not sure. Could be a result of slightly different weather in the 4 states that I was/am in. Could have gotten them from a friend and that friend's daughter who both seemed to be nearing the end of their stint with the cooties. Or it could have something to do with that unintentional dose of Long Island Iced Tea I had on Saturday. *Note to self: Ask before fixing a taaaall glass of a beverage that appears to be plain old iced tea. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's been poured from its original bottle into an unassuming pitcher.* I don't drink alcohol but don't like to be wasteful either, so I just drank it. Took me over an hour to finish it off, and surprisingly I wasn't even buzzed. A little drowsy, but not otherwise affected at the time of ingestion. Everyone else at the gathering thought it quite funny, but I'm not too fond of stuff that feels like rubbing alcohol (or how I assume it would taste/feel) going down my throat. I don't knock it....just ain't for me.

But hey, I made it through! And it was cause for a good laugh. :-D

So basically, I ended up back in Atlanta/Decatur, GA, which makes 4 times in less than a year. What can I say?...I like the place.

Since returning on Tuesday night (2 days turned into 4)I've been so overwhelmed with tasks that need to be completed. A ten page paper with ten sources due by Monday (I've got 1 paragraph), alterations for folks, general reading, phonetic transcriptions for a class assignment, and then there's the trip home that I'll be making either tomorrow night or Saturday. My grandfather died last Friday hours before I left. While it is heart-breaking, the family has been prepared for it every since he was sent home a couple months again with a statement from the hospital staff that there was nothing else they could do for him. (Interesting considering that what they did do for him over a year ago... unnecessarily inserting a pacemaker which had to be removed in March due to infection...is what precipitated his decline.) Talking to my mother about it over the last several weeks, I concluded that he wouldn't last too much longer, so I made a trip up there a couple weeks ago to see him. He was only a fraction of what he was when I saw him in November...significantly thinner, lost eyesight (due to a stroke somewhere along the way), inactive, confined to the bed, unable to speak, constantly shaking, etc. Truly sad when I take into account all the memories of I have of him as a functioning man.

But nonetheless, the family will come from far and wide to attend the funeral on Saturday. That'll be followed up with food, laughter, and good times, just the way we always do after burying a loved one. He was a well-known person within the community--a retired cop that people just knew--so I suspect that there'll be a lots of revelry.

This year will make 9 since my grandmother passed, and it's still pretty unbelievable to me that she's not here. But I'm just grateful to have had the opportunity to know and appreciate my grandparents on the level that I did. And I'm even more grateful to still have 2 more jewels in the form of my paternal grandparents who are alive and well.

I haven't even had time to consider what I'll wear to the funeral--whether it'll be all black, black at all, or what. There definitely is no time for making anything, but I was just looking over styles I've created in black. Before making her transition in '05, my cousin told everyone she didn't want people coming to her funeral dressed all in black, moping around and such. She specifically requested lighter colors and big smiles, and I did my best to oblige. I suppose it's all insignificant in the larger scheme of things, but something to be considered all the same.


peace!