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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

A Workout and a Great Send-Off

Some days it's just harder than others to workout.  Although I had to  force myself out the door, once I started my workout, I realized this was not one of those days in which minutes seemed like hours.  I did 40 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weights.  (The 40 minute workouts seem to leave me with less pain afterward; 60 minutes of cardio seemed to take me days to recuperate from).  Listening to Sousa marches and the theme from The Magnificent Seven always spurs me on!  Someday I know I'm going to slip up and start singing loudly, but at a gym where guys take out their teeth, you think someone will notice?

The funeral on Saturday was lovely, held in the church in which Richard and I were married and where Lowie (Harry's sister) and Ken were married.  We saw many of Harry's friends, his children, and Lowie and Ken's children and grand babies.  We were sure to leave all the babies in the cars (not alone) while we were at the cemetery as it was only about 22° and very windy.  After Harry was laid to rest, my brothers, cousins and I decided to drive 'around the corner' from Harry's gravesite to 'visit' my father.  The snow was too deep for us to get close to his grave so we all stood in the street hugging and crying in a big huddle.  Then we started to laugh -- what, Harry's death wasn't sad enough; we had to go find someone else to mourn???  We hadn't realized that all the other cars from the funeral had decided to follow us thinking, I guess, that we were leaving this huge cemetery.  My husband (sitting with Ariana) got out of the car and showed us maybe 30 cars just sitting there.  Do you know no one honked their horn  - not even once.

At the lunch, the six little ones ran around, holding each others' hands, dancing and diverting our sadness.  Ariana (now 2½) went from table to table saying, "My name's Ariana, what's yours?"  Her mother looked at me and asked, "When was she elected mayor?"  It was a warming send-off.

13 comments:

Linda said...

Sounds like a healthy grieving experience to me. Glad you were able to do that. So many families are fractured today and could not do that.

Purple Flowers said...

Sometimes sadness and laughter tie themselves together. You seem to have a very loving family, and are very fortunate.

Jay said...

I keep telling myself I need to go and get on the stationary bike and stuff like that. If I just get into the habit of doing it, I'll love it.

Funerals are difficult, but comforting at the same time.

Cobalt Violet said...

I am finally getting around and ... I am so sorry but so happy for you that you have your family - children always help the healing, don't they?

Blessings and light to you Kathy.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Kathy, Glad you had a chance to meet with family. Funerals are great times to 'catch up' with loved ones, even though it can be sad.

Good Luck with the exercise. I am only exercising my brain these days (doing Genealogy) and my fingers --playing on the computer. How's that????? ha

Hugs,
Betsy

Sally Wessely said...

Kathy, you made me laugh at the reminder about the guy who took out his teeth at the gym. We thought we saw everything in the classroom. Sometimes, don't you just want to take charge in places like that and get things shaped up like you would do in your classroom?

Aren't funerals interesting? I always think that they bring such healing along with the sadness. There is something comforting in having these things in places where you feel family connections. Also, it is wonderful to know that the young children bring hope and love for the future.

ain't for city gals said...

What a fun post! Good for you with your exercise ..even if you do go to a gym where guys take out their teeth...OMGosh..how funny..Ariana reminded me of most flower girls at a wedding....they think it is all about them...looking forward to all your future posts...

happyone said...

It must be such a comfort to have such a loving family!!

Tracy said...

Kathy,
Good for you for getting yourself to the gym...I am NOT a gym rat and am a self-proclaimed exerciser from March-November...the winter is my time off to recover; Haha! doesn't that sound much better than being lazy?

Cheryl said...

I haven't been to a gravesite in years and years. I wonder how long I'll be able to say that. I hope Harry is in peace and I wish healing for the family. And a little laughter!

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

Glad you got to visit with family at the funeral. I got a good laugh over Ariana's friendliness. I bet she keeps you all entertained!

I have been neglecting my exercise - need to get back on the treadmill.

Bilbo said...

I find it difficult to think of a funeral as "lovely," but you painted a wonderful picture of a goodbye that perfectly mixed grief for Harry and good humor moving forward. Well said!

Kimberly said...

It's the sense of humor and gratitude which makes the hard times easier to manage.

P.S. I love Sousa marches too!