nobody likes funerals. just the thought of going to one makes you feel uneasy. you know there's going to be a lot of sadness, it's nothing to get excited about. that's how i felt going into today, but it turned out to be such a great day, and something happened that just blew me away.

i took some pictures when my mom and myself visited grandpa a couple weeks ago.
the day he died, i went back to those pictures with an idea. i wanted a good shot of his face, and i wanted it to look grandfatherly... dignified. unfortunately, i really didn't have a photo that suited my needs. they were all group shots, nothing of him alone. but i started looking at one photo, this one here:



i realized there was enough space around him that i could crop everything else out, blow it up, and turn it black & white for that classy feel. so that's what i did, as you may have seen on my flickr or myspace, but if not:



my idea was to put it on myspace so family members could see, and hopefully later make prints of for anyone who wanted one. just a simple idea, something i wanted to do for the family.

back to the wake.

i walked into the room where grandpa was, and saw all the flowers and photo collages and whatnot, and then i noticed a table right in front of me, and on that table was this:



there was the picture, sitting on the table in a frame. i was totally shocked, i had no idea it was going to be there, or even how it got there. like i said, i put it on myspace, and didn't think too much of it after that. it turns out my cousin debbie had seen it, and sent it to my aunt rosie who printed it out and framed it. i can't even describe how blown away i was. it had to be one of the proudest moments of my life, so unexpected, but exactly what i wanted. it made the rest of the day so much better, i couldn't stop telling people how i took the picture and how happy i was to see it there. it's the last photo taken of him while he was here and able.

the services were nice, the family didn't fight, i was given one of grandpa's hats, we all shared stories from years ago, it was really a tremendous day. i talked to my cousin and uncle about going over there to watch football on sundays, and to another uncle about playing some texas hold 'em heads up. just spending more time together in the future. i haven't spent a hell of a lot of time with my family, but this experience made me realize that i should. it shouldn't have to take someone dying for it to happen, either.