4th Of July and a Funeral

There were two major stories of the last week: 4th of July and a funeral for my Aunt Gina. Expanded comments below.

The 4th of July is always a big event for us. This year we had guests consisting of Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne (plus Sully, their dog) and Pam’s sister Becky. A good July lunch was consumed, consisting of boiled-in-beer bratwurst, potato salad, chips, fruit, lemonade, vegetable tray with dip, and rhubarb desert with ice cream topping.

We spend a few hours in good conversation, catching up with family news and events that had happened since our last meeting. We stayed indoors for the most part as temps were at the 88 degree level and it was quite humid. Not the hottest day of the year, but among the top 5 so far.

Sully and Grayce (the two dogs) had a good time playing with each other as Sully’s activity level is quite a bit higher than our older dogs. They played outside for a while and inside as well. I think Grayce enjoyed the visit as much as we did.

We enjoyed the visit, the company, and the good conversations around the table.

The other major event was the funeral of my Aunt Gina. She passed away at the age of 104. Of that family of 4, including my father, my Uncle Frank is the only one left, and he is 100. Due to rehabilitation efforts Uncle Frank was not able to attend, but some of his family was there.

it was interesting to reconnect with some of my cousins. Some I recognized, some I did not. It really hit home to me how old my generation is getting, however. Many of my cousins had their grandchildren in attendance, a generation I know almost nothing about.

The funeral was held in Withee, Wisconsin, at the same cemetery where my parents are buried. The Catholic mass was held in Chippewa Falls, west of Withee, in a quite nice (and air conditioned) church.

I had to get suits out of the closet and try them on to see if I had one that still fit. Luckily, one did, and a few others were donated to the resale shop here in town. Of my few remaining good shirts, Pam had to move a top button so I could fasten the shirt to put on a tie.

While it was a somber event, I still enjoyed getting out and reconnecting with some extended family. The day was long, on the road at around 8:00 A.M. and getting home just before 10:00 P.M., but I had chosen a couple routes not previously traveled and enjoyed seeing parts Minnesota and Wisconsin new to me.

I’ll post one photo of the event, taken at the cemetery just before internment.

As I mentioned, my parents are buried in the same cemetery:

Yes, my brother and I both had our last name legally changed to Fields before each of us was married. Dad used to tell us the original name translated into “field of flowers” or “field of violets” which is where the name Fields came from.

Around the yard, day lilies are blooming and new grass is coming in on the bare spot left after the sidewalk repair. Good to see it filling in. I will be heading to Colorado in a few weeks, meeting up with a few friends before taking some ATV rides and working a bit on The Lot. Looking forward to that trip. Also have a class reunion coming up in about a week, don’t know how many of my high school classmates (class of ’70) will show, looking forward to that as well.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

July 4th is THE holiday where Heart House really shows off, with bunting and flags. The relatives saw the place in its glory, with the lawn and plantings at their peak. NE Iowa delivered its trademark heat-plus-humidity summer combo.

Be cool and rock on.

Today’s Humor: