Saying Goodbye

This may seem like an odd “delight” but it was. Finally, over two years after my father-in-law died, we laid his ashes in his family plot at the old cemetery. His grandfather bought the plot at the beginning of the 20th century, and it holds his grandfather (1909) and grandmother, a great-aunt, both his parents, and his wife. He is the last to join them. We were able to finally do this with the return of one brother, and a cousin and her partner who were quite close to father-in-law joined us, along with her daughter, and one other cousin. It was small, but we said a few words, and read some messages from the other brothers, and some of the grandchildren. We dropped in rosemary for remembrance, and said goodbye. The sun came out, the tall tall trees At last he was at rest, and back with his wife.

Later, my husband, brother-in-law, and I enjoyed a cream bun at lunch. Father-in-law loved his cream buns from his local bakery, and in recent years we were happy to get them for him just to see the smile on his face. We all smiled, remembering him, as we wiped the cream off our noses and licked our lips.

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