Coping

It's amazing to me what a comfort my friends and colleagues have been. Susan brought dinner on Sunday when we were all at Mom's. Pam has offered to give Mom an appraisal on the house, if she needs it (which I don't think she does) at a very reduced price and the list goes on. The kind words in person, by phone, e-mail, blog and cards have been a great comfort. Thank you all. All of these people reaching out to us in a very genuine way helps tremendously.
I've been helping Mom sort through the myriad of paperwork, gathering great photos of Daddy over the years, nursing a sick chicken and working. This has been good therapy, too.
My dear cousin, Susanna, is making a memorial website for Daddy, so we've been sending her tons of photos. I hope she doesn't get overwhelmed and cry "Uncle". Pun intended.
Things are shaping up for a memorial service. We are going to plant a tree (probably a redwood) in John Morgan Park, just a couple of blocks from Mom and Daddy's home of 50+ years. John Morgan was a colleague of Daddy's at Campbell PD in the late 50s and was a former Police Chief. We'll have a memorial service at the tree planting and anyone can say what ever is on their mind. Then we'll have a BBQ there in the park. Daddy would've liked this, because he loved to BBQ and wasn't a coat and tie kind of guy.
My sister Jeanie, found out that the US Navy (of which he is a vet) will take his ashes out to sea, have a brief ceremony and send us the latitude and longitude of his internment. Very fitting and I think Daddy would approve, as he told us, "Send me back to the earth".