Funeral and Fun

We got to Marietta on Tuesday late afternoon and settled in at my Dad's house where we are staying for the two weeks that we are in the U.S.

Glenn couldn't remember how to tie his tie! NO joke!

Visitation was on Wednesday from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm at Mayes Ward Funeral Home, just across the street from Marietta First Baptist Church where the funeral was held the next day. We both had left some clothes here just in case but as it turned out, I had lost some weight since we left in December and the suit that I had planned to wear was too big! So, early on Wednesday morning shortly after the stores opened, I had to run find something to wear for the funeral!!!

The Borders had set up lots of pictures of Bill around the room and Beth did this great display of the 7 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

It was a nice walk down Memory Lane for the Borders.

I loved the picture of the 4 girls on the right hand side of the photo. This is of Sarah, Kate, Kari and Mallory, all 4 of them sporting their pierced noses! Mallory told me that once she saw Kari had her nose pierced, she wanted hers pierced too!

The Borders had placed candy dishes full of Starlight peppermints on every table in the visitation room in memory of Bill's sugar habit. Peppermints were his all-time favorite candy. I think he went from cigarettes to candy...

I loved this picture of Bill and Marguerites' 3 children: Darden, Carolyn and Glenn (left to right)

And here they are today, again left to right, Darden, Carolyn and Glenn.

The flowers were beautiful and Glenn and I were extremely touched by those that were sent for us. This one was sent by Mary and Alvin, our co-workers there in Budapest, and their son and his wife, also with our company. I couldn't bring any of the flowers back with me as a memento but I am bringing back the ceramic angel that adorned the basket of mixed plants.

This basket was sent by other member care co-workers who work with the NAME Affinity, Jerry and Kathy, Dave and Yvonne, and Dave and Sara. I would have loved to be able to keep the baskets that were given by our friends, especially the fern out of this one, but alas...I can't take live plants out of the country.

This one was sent by the company for which we work! We sure were surprised to see the card from the IMB. We also got sympathy cards from Dr. Eliff and Dr. Fort, which we certainly didn't expect!

And after the funeral, we've been doing a lot of this! Well, Marguerite and I have. Glenn has gone over most days and helped his mother go through tons of paperwork, Bill's clothes, her "office" and just run errands either with her or for her.

After Bill's funeral was over, we went over to Ed's house, our next door neighbor on Big Oaks Drive. If you recall, his lovely wife and our good friend, Jo, passed away in April. Glenn and I went with Ed to where she was buried and laid flowers on her gravesite. She is buried next to her first husband to whom she was married 40 years (I think that is correct). She was married to Ed for 20! She was an amazing lady and I will miss her dearly.

While Glenn has been over at his mother's house most days, I have been spending some time with my own family. My dad and I have gone to Wal-mart a few times. With the price of gas these days, we can't afford to go too many places!!!!

My sister, Karin, came into town and did some major shopping together (she went with me on the most dreaded shopping trips of all...to look for a bathing suit and summer shoes! BUT, we were successful!!!) One day my Dad took us to Sam's (because he has a Sam's card, and I don't) because I have a few things I wanted to buy from there to take back to BP. I sprung for lunch at Sam's! They have the best pizza!

On Thursday evening, we drove 2 hours north to meet Kate and Chris for a quick dinner. They are traveling through Tennessee visiting their old friends and then going on to North Carolina for a couple of days before coming to Marietta for a baby shower hosted jointly by my other sister, Elizabeth, and our nephews' wife, Beth. Unfortunately, we will already be back in BP before they come to Marietta for the baby shower...so we decided to drive half-way to meet them for 2 hours.

There are only 2 places to eat in Benton, Tennessee. Sonic and a diner and since Chris's favorite fast food place is Sonic, we ate there. Wow! Aren't Glenn and I big spenders!?!

Glenn's mom went with us and Kate took the picture of our 3 generations.

The next evening we met one of Glenn's old-time friends from his childhood, Brant, and his wife Peggy for dinner at Pasta Bella. We split a meal so we could order dessert. Pasta Bella has the most incredible desserts and, believe it or not, the desserts were so huge we brought half of it home for another day.

Peggy put her hand beside the cake slice so you could get a good perspective on the size of the pieces! Honestly, one slice is plenty for 4 people to share, especially after eating the huge dinner portions they serve!

Well, starting tomorrow, I will be cutting back on what I eat!

We return to BP on Tuesday evening so my next update might be a mix of U.S. and BP pictures. Have a great Memorial Day holiday!