family

Today Mike and I went to his uncle's funeral. As a background, Mike's Uncle Don was killed last week in a car accident- he actually had a heart attack which caused him to have the fatal accident.
Although I didn't really know Mike's uncle well, we loved our time today hanging out and catching up with the Frizzell side of the family. The vast majority of them live all over the country, so it is very rare to see all of them in one place. So many neat, loving people who love life and love each other. It was great to see them again. And, he had been married to his sweet wife Patty for 55 years- what a testament to commitment, especially in this day and age!!
One of the most poignant moments today was at the funeral home right after the memorial service had finished. The funeral staff had just spread the American flag over Don's casket. Aunt Pattie, his wife, walked up to the casket and gently straightened out a small folded edge of the flag and softly touched her husband's casket- Mike whispered to me, "Kind of like straightening his tie before he walked out the door." It brought tears to my eyes.
Uncle Don had a military funeral, as he had served many years in the Air Force- man, there's just something about those military services that gets you- the care and respect that the servicemen take with the casket, the very strict folding of the flag and deep gratitude shown when the widow is presented with the flag... definitely brought tears to my eyes.