Good, part 5

[fbhjr]

This Thanksgiving it will be 2 years since my mother in law died.
When she died we were planning on taking her on a big trip for her 70th
birthday.  It had started as a trip to Ireland, but after I was out of work
for more than half a year, it became a trip to Florida.
One of the things Jean always seemed to like was hanging out with her
daughter’s friends.

The money she left my wife was a large chunk of what paid for the faire
this weekend.
And, my wife was really missing her mother being part of her life.

So, I said “pack up the urn and bring her with us.”
“Won’t people think that’s weird?” my wife asked.
“So what?” I said.

So, sitting on the gate table was the urn.  Not a whole lot of folks seemed
to notice it Saturday.  Or, maybe I just missed them noticing.

But, when it was set on “The Baron’s Table” at the pig roast Saturday
night, a few more people noticed.
I’ll admit, a few folks seemed to think it strange.  But, no one walked
away.
And, she got to be at the center of a party with good food, good drink, and
good friends.
I’m pretty sure that would have suited her just fine.

Sunday morning I had returned her to the gate table when one of the
colonial pike men climbed the hill to where we were.
“So, who’s in the urn?” he asked.
“My mother in law,” I said as I continued to set things out.
Then I turned and saw his face.
“You were joking, weren’t you?” I asked.
“Yeah, I was.”
“I’m not,” I said.
He paused for a moment, then shrugged and sat down to visit.

One of the funniest ideas I heard was Saturday night at the pig roast.  The
Iron Hill Vagabonds came by the table and were introduced to Jean.
“That’s a great idea!” they said.  “We can have people put their loved ones
in little urns and take them on tour with us.  We can set them up in a
spice rack at shows and have them go all over the country with us.  We can
charge them a subscription fee based on how much of the tour they go on
with us!”
I think they were joking.  But, if I see it on their web site, maybe we
should get a mini-urn for Jean…

Jean died the day before her 70th birthday and therefore missed her party.
But, I think we did pretty well by her this weekend.

Comments

[ravena-kade.livejournal.com]

you did awesome by her this weekend =)

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

i did see the urn on the table at gate, and i recognized it, but i guess i'm way too blase' about such stuff. i figured it was just someone who would have wanted to be there, or who someone would have wanted to be there. :)

i love the exchange with the pikemen. *lol*

[silverdragonma.livejournal.com]

If I had been performing, I was going to bring my father.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

If you bought him a ticket...

[silverdragonma.livejournal.com]

Buy a ticket for a box of ash?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I thought you meant an urn. Boxes would be free...

[malterre.livejournal.com]

This made me tear up-in a good way

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

Having her there was PERFECT. I thought it was about the coolest thing ever.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Well, of course you'd say that. She's got a room at your place. You're not unbiased...

[cissa.livejournal.com]

That's lovely. I wish I'd been able to meet her.