Corsicana.

This sweet boy escorted me to my grandmother's funeral in Corsicana. His great-grandmother's funeral. Our Mema.

Eliette was sick. She couldn't go. Damon had to stay home with her. Gage and I went down to Corsicana. It was a great service in a great little funeral home that our family has been using for years, and has visited far too frequently, in my opinion...

We drove from the funeral home to the cemetery when the service was over. The cemetery is next to a park and playground of all things. Gage was commenting as we drove there that it would be nice to be buried near a playground or park. I asked him "why," and he said, "because you're close enough to hear the children's laughter." He just gets it. He gets me. He's kind and compassionate, and even though they say that our bodies are just a shell and those buried there don't hear the children's laughter---it's a pleasant understanding of how it might be.

The story about that tree: my grandmother planted it years ago when my grandfather died. In the above picture, I'm standing in front of the closest water source. She and my pregnant mother (and no telling who else Mema made help) schlepped water by the bucket load down to that little bitty tree to water it. Look at it now.  The most beautiful and perfect tree, creating the most beautiful and shady resting spot.

So funerals bring us all together. We gathered at Mema's to eat after the service. Probably only in the South does the funeral home deliver a huuuuuuge family portion of home-made fried chicken to the bereaved family. I found this offering to be both bizarre and AWESOME.

Gage was thrilled to see his Mario there at the service and back at Mema's. 

Many of the kids played in the front yard around the pecan tree.... Gage with some of his second and third cousins. {My mom is #7 out of 7 girls. I'm the youngest grand child on that side of the family. I have cousins my mom's age. Each one of the 7 girls had at least 2 kids. We've got a set of twins and a set of triplets in the mix too. The family is large and we wouldn't have it any other way!}

 The kids played inside and out. Hide and seek and techno gadgets....then running and playing....

There's something healing about having kids around when you're sad and grieving. I think it was especially comforting to see all of the generations there, after Mema's passing. To just look around and think of the role she played in the creation of our family being what it is today.

My sweet Mema will be terribly missed. Seeing her decline was tough and very sad. She was always the one to care for everyone. She had a wonderful heart, and always worried about the "least" among us. She spent her whole life caring for others. There are few others I've ever met or even heard of that I can say the same for.

Oh, we will miss her.