Pumpkins, funerals, things going bump in the night.

The last few days have been unsettling, more so for my family up in NY than for me. The youngest of my dad's sisters passed away last week, making my Aunt Dolly and Aunt Jaye the last two surviving daughters of my grandparents. Being that Aunt A was the youngest of my grandparents' children, both Dolly and Jaye (at 97 and 90) were saddened beyond belief at A's passing, at just 75 years of age, I think she was.

My cousin F was eMailing me with details of the wake, funeral, burial. I've been reading and re-reading eMails all day long. We were all more worried about 97-yr-old Aunt Dolly than anyone else. In less than a week, she was driven to Virginia to see her sister A before she passed away, then driven back home to Florida. She wasn't home for more than a couple of days (she lives with Aunt A's son S) and they got the phone call that A had passed. A's body was sent up to NY, for viewing, for the Mass, for the burial in the family's plots in Queens. No time for a driving trip from Florida to NY...... my cousin S got on a plane with Aunt Dolly. She hates hates hates to take a plane. I don't know that a long car ride is any better because her back and her legs begin to hurt after just an hour or so. A plane ride it was, and she had no choice.

Somehow, Aunt Dolly finds the strength to withstand the most uncomfortable situations. Granted, she's more frail and unsteady than we'd like to see, but my cousins in NY said that most of her instability was due to the stress of the situation, not her actual health, which has always been very good. Aunt Dolly has forever been a study in moderation and control. No drinking. No smoking. No sun. No over-eating. No deep-fried foods. No cheap or fast foods. No low-calorie, light, no-sugar, no-fat foods.... it was either "the real thing or nothing," as she told us. She was such a good cook that no one ever wanted to take her out for dinner-- they'd rather eat her cooking in grandma's kitchen. Aunt Dolly lives a long way off from grandma's kitchen these days, but I'm sure she can still put together a great five-star meal.

With my mind being on the funeral, and wondering how Aunt Dolly got through it, I was a ball of nervous energy here today. Couldn't sit still to read much; didn't want to drive the car; didn't feel like cooking much (fridge filled with left-overs); but I did pour ingredients into the bread machine this morning, and the kitchen smelled like a bakery before noon-time.

What to do with the hours of this day while I was waiting for eMails from the northeast to come in...... I went into the storage closet and took out the Halloween boxes. I usually put up the Halloween decorations at the beginning of September..... today is August 31st-- close enough. Out came the pumpkins, the black cats, the witch's hats, the ghosts. The foyer, breakfast room, living room, and dining room are all Halloween-ed up. Only things left to do is the purple and black Halloween tree, and the haunted house that I made a few years ago. I will take out those last couple of things tomorrow.

This big old doll-house of a home is perfect for holiday decorations... the more, the merrier, with all the rooms and the nooks and crannies and surprise spaces. Everything we moved here just looks better here.... no other way to explain it. When I was a kid, I played with my doll-house for hours on end. More than fifty years later, I'm doing the same thing. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.... it just is what it is.

Things going bump in the night..... I have no idea what or who's going bump in the night, but I've not had a full good night's sleep in the past four days. I don't know if dreams are keeping me awake, or thoughts of the family are keeping me from sleeping..... all I know is that I'm waking up in the morning and feeling like I've been awake most of the night.

This too shall pass. Everything (and everyone) does.