Joe was buried yesterday in a picture perfect service....it was raining, cool and blustery, just like Joe! The preacher was brief (even with the obligatory come to Jesus message), a lady who both knew and liked Joe told a short tale of Joe in WWII, and then it was over. We went to local church for a meal (Baptists always cook when somebody dies) and had some of the best home cooking, semi-southern style that I've had since the last funeral I went to.
My mother-in-law didn't go to any of this. Her memory is so gone that she couldn't remember that Joe had died for more than a couple of hours at a time, and so it was like learning for the first time all over again every time we told her. So, we've stopped telling her, figuring that this is the kindest thing we could do. Surprisingly enough, everyone involved agreed, and didn't think that we were being weird or cruel by withholding the information.
I have finally met a lot of the people that Gayle has told me about, both relatives and just locals that she knows. Of course, there's not a chance I'll actually remember everyone's name, but at least I'll remember their faces. This is a good thing, as I'll be coming up here a lot more. Since Joe died before Medicaid getting involved, they've no claim to his estate. Gayle's mom is a lot easier to care for, so we'll be keeping her at the house for the foreseeable future. This means we'll get to keep the house to retire to, which also means that we'll be getting all of the busted things fixed...the roof and all of the plumbing that Joe did will be first on the list. Bless his heart, he had great ideas...all very logical. Unfortunately, logic fails when you see the wildly convoluted piping he put in place to add a 2nd bathroom/laundry room in what was a bedroom. The venting for all this is actually below the level of the fixtures, which I really don't think is a good thing. Anyway, I happen to know my limitations, and will be getting a licensed, well referenced plumber in to take care of all this. The same with the roof...it'll be a company that can pony up some references, show me their license and insurance limits before I sign a damn thing.
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