We've got a long road home

We are very nearly to the second anniversary of the Sunday morning that Mom called my in tears to tell me that Donna had called her as Linda had passed away. Even though it was not a surprise due to her state leading up to that, it will never quite seem real. Linda was always one of those people that was just larger than life. It still doesn't seem fathomable that she isn't here to command around those she loved. There will never be another quite like her, although her daughters each bear certain traits.

Her memorial service would be that Wednesday and not going was never an option. I was, however, surprised to find out that Grimsby would be accompanying mom and I to Cadillac for the service. We set out dressed in comfy clothes for the 4 hour drive north and were on our way. 

In Clare, there is a welcome center. Why there is a welcome center practically in the middle of this great state, I doubt I will ever understand. What makes this welcome center so entertaining to me is the monument/memorial/statue in honor of the highway workers. As I find this hilariously absurd, mom knows that a trip north means that I will, of course, have to pee at this particular rest stop. 

On this particular day, we pulled in to the welcome center and parked a few spaces over from this almost middle-aged couple and a slightly older woman. As we are getting out of the van, she and mom start talking about how it's such a lovely day. After we were past them, she commented that she just had to talk to the lady. 

We continued on our way to Cadillac, stopping just outside of town to change into our church-going clothes. All three of us changed in the van, some of us just managed it a tad quicker than others. Mom got back into the drivers seat as Grimsby and I were finishing up. I grabbed my shoes and climbed back into the front seat and we started off, very gently, only to find that Grandma was reaching for something and fell right off of the seat. Personally I took this as a good omen of the way the day would go as I knew Linda would have laughed about it. 

We got to the church and took our seats after saying hello to all of the family and might-as-well-be-family, which we fall under. There were quite a few picture boards in the lobby, which Grandma and I ventured out to look at. While standing there, I was only half paying attention to the hubbub that surrounded us, but I did hear Dar talking to someone who introduced herself as "Linda's cousin Sue", and I never gave it a second thought. 

Grandma and I headed back to our seats and mom was finishing up her conversation. She then turned to me and said "that's the lady from the rest area" to which I finally put two and two together and told her that it was Sue. Off mom goes!!

It turns out that Mom knows Sue from way back as they both would spend time at Linda's together. They both also said that they would have never recognized each other at the rest area, but they both just felt that they had to talk to the other one. 

Linda always found a way to bring people together. 

After the service and luncheon, we all headed back to the house. As we left the church before the family had, we stopped by this fantastic used bookstore that both mom and I enjoy. I finally stumbled across the book Sullivan's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank. I had bought a couple of her books as Borders was going out of business, only to realize that I should read them in order due to linked characters. I had been unable to find the first one until that day. 

We got to the house and ate ham sandwiches. All of the girls kept cracking up as everybody kept bringing them ham. They had been eating ham for every meal for a few days, and there was no end of the ham in sight. All things considered, we enjoyed the rest of the day spending time with everyone. 

As we headed home, mom and Grimbsy were up front and I made a lovely bed for myself on the floor of the van so that I could lay there and devour Sullivan's Island and devour it I did. Until I reached the point where the main character talked about how her dad died when she was a young girl and everyone just kept bringing them ham. I just about died laughing as it just seemed like kismet. I then read that part to mom and grandma and they appreciated it just the same.