Entropy being what it is...

I got back from my home town yesterday evening.
The purpose of my visit was primarily for the funeral of my grandmother.
Jean was in her 90's, so "she had a good life" as so many people said while I was there.
The service was pretty much what you'd expect for a small affair, not that I'd know much about attending funerals. This is only the second funeral that I've attended.
I have been to other funerals in the past, but I was a pallbearer, which I don't believe really counts.

One of the things I still don't understand about death is that it has a tendency to bring out the worst in people, especially when there is money involved.
I had heard from other family members, who had told me about certain on-goings in the lead up to the funeral and frankly it sickened me. I'm not going in to specifics here, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Moreover, my visit was an opportunity to catch up with other family members, as I get back so infrequently. Further to my refereeing both before and after the funeral, I attempted to mend a few other rifts within the family unit.
I successfully managed to build a bridge between my other grandparents and my sister.
Again, much silliness abounds - after my parents split up, people took sides, it got messy and then years seem to go by without a word spoken.
This seemed to go well, we sat; drank tea and idly chatted. I deemed this to be a success. I'm hopeful, this will lead on to reuniting my sister and father, but I'm pretty sure this will be a much harder nut to crack. So, next time maybe.
The one thing that will stick with me, besides seeing my mother reading aloud something she'd written for the occasion and trying desperately to keep her composure, is the dull thud of roses landing on a coffin once placed in a hole in the ground.

The Obituary.

Edit: With thanks to Sally Paulson for proofreading and generally being awesome.