Face the curtain with a bow

We waved off my uncle on his last physical journey today. I never thought I would say this about a day such as this but it has been wonderful. Sure, there were some extremely sad and distressing parts but by and large it has been a truly upbeat celebration of his life.

The fact that the day was the day he himself had planned was reflected in almost everything - the morning get together, the hymns in church, the music at the crematorium, the meal afterwards and the jolly good knees up which we finally left after sharing a good five hours with family and friends - many of whom we don't see anywhere near often enough.

I'm almost embarrassed to say this but my ribs are aching from laughing. The stories, the memories - not just of my uncle but also of my dad. I love to spend time with extended family hearing about my dad - aspects of him which sadly I never knew.

We looked at lots of photographs - including one of me at about four with bunches in my hair and one of those funky crochet waistcoats.

Thankfully Craig coped fine with the children all day and the house wasn't too much of a tip to return to. Seeing how capable he can be when he puts his mind to it I've packed him on off to take Hermione on her first night out for pizza with a friend of the opposite sex - they start young these days you know *grin*