Mom's Birthday Weekend/Our Final Goodbye to Uncle David

Seven years ago, while at the beach with my family celebrating Mother's Day, my sisters and I went down on the beach one night.  We talked a lot that night, but one thing that became clear was that were were all about to go in different directions.  Deanne was living in Pensacola,  Kimi was about to graduate from Auburn, and I had already moved to Nashville and had recently started dating Keith.   The sad reality was we were not going to have as many opportunities to see eachother as we grew up and spread out and went our own ways.  So, that night, on the beach, we made a sort of pact that we would always come home to Mom's for Christmas in December and for Mom's birthday at the end of August.  That way, we were guaranteed to see eachother at least twice a year. 

This year was a little different. 

This year we buried our good friend David Perry on Mom's bithday weekend.

We talked about going home to mom's next weekend for Labor Day and celebrating her birthday a week late, but Deanne is not going to be able to make the trip (due to medical reasons).  Kimi is living at home now and was able to make the trip up here with Mom and Bill for David's graveside service.  AND I just saw everyone last month when we went to Alabama and Florida.  So, the decision was made not to make a trip home for my Mom's birthday.

Mom and Pops and Kimi arrived late Friday. Friday was Momma's actual birthday.  I baked her a cake, but by the time they got here, it was a little late to celebrate.  We stayed up for a bit visiting, but soon found ourselves in our beds.

The next day, we got going a little later than we'd planned and because of that we didn't think we could include Etta on an outing because she would soon need lunch and a nap.  Keith volunteered to stay home with her and the rest of us went out.  Momma is considering a new car for herself, so we spent the first half of the day at the BMW dealership test driving 3 different cars.  We then went to a late lunch at Calypso (yum) where Momma decided that she really preferred this little suv/crossover made by Mercedes.  After lunch we made a stop at TJ Maxx Homegoods and then home to pick up Keith and Etta. 

We all went over to Aunt Becky's house for dinner.  Etta played in the "game room" with her Nana V for a while,

but then she was ready for "nite nite", so Keith went home with her so she could go to bed.  While we were at Aunt Becky's we celebrated Momma's birthday with a lopsided cake and some icecream. 

Sunday morning was pretty lazy around the house.  We left around 1:00 for David's service in Nashville.  Keith stayed home so Etta could take a nap.  It was a much smaller, more intimate group than his memorial service back in July.  It was emotional and tender.  In Judaism, it is custom for the mourners to actually pick up a shovel and help bury the loved one.  Symbolically, this gives the mourners closure as they observe the grave being filled in.  For me, the finality of hearing that first shovel of dirt hit the box slams my soul- hard.  It was very emotional.  It's a great mitzvah to literally bury our loved one because it is a mitzvah which the deceased can not repay or show gratitude for, thus it is a pure gesture.   After the service, we were invited to a cousin of David's house.  They had a beautiful home and they offered some great food!  :)  We stayed for about an hour before heading back home. 

Once home, we all changed clothes, did a little dancing, and went to dinner at Logan's here in The Hill.  Etta sat in a booster seat for the first time.  She usually sits in a highchair and I was a little nervous about not actually strapping her into a chair, but she did really well sitting there between her Momma and Daddy.

My family left around noon on Monday.  Etta had a great time playing with her Nana V, Grandfather, and Aunt Kimi before they left.