So here I am, in New Jersey once again. My grandmother passed away last night, and I came down this morning from Rhode Island.

 

I was expecting the day after to be a day of sadness and great grief, but instead, it was a day of happy remembrance, much to my relief. When it happened, there was an extreme amount of emotional weight, but today, during the family wake, it was a time of celebrating her life, her family legacy, and all the things she had done for her family.

 

After I arrived, I had to send an email to work to let them know I would be out for a few days, and then I spent the rest of the day listening to stories about my grandmother, about her growing up and having my dad and aunts. We went through a lot of old photo albums, and there was a lot of laughter and smiling. I know that this is what a wake should be.

 

Monday is the open wake, and then Tuesday is the actual funeral. I don’t even have a suit, so I’ll have to rent one. Monday I will be creating a Keynote show of photos and music as a “Memorial Kiosk” for the funeral, and I’ll also create a Flash show so people can see it on the family website I’ll be making in memorial to both my grandmother and grandfather, who passed away around 15 years ago. I’m also delivering the eulogy, which my father and aunts will write. I consider that a great honor to be asked to do that.

 

I hope the rest of this week is a time of relief that she is no longer in pain, and a time of true memorial. She would rather have everyone assembled in joyous memory than have everyone together and only sad.