We celebrate life, even as we mourn the loss of my son-in-law's father, Al. Joan, his wife, is staying here with her son. The funeral won't be until the first weekend in April due to the busy Easter season and the fact that Al wanted a military funeral with a 21-gun salute to honor his days in the US Navy.
I saw Joan Sunday afternoon at an Irish pub in downtown Durham. We had gone there, along with the rest of my family to see my granddaughter dance with her Irish dance group. Cami has taken Irish dancing lessons for a little over a year, and she's quite good! Since it was St. Patrick's Day, the pub was having outdoor activities all afternoon, and Cami's school was scheduled to dance. The day before, when Raleigh held its St. Patrick's Day parade, the sun was out and the temperatures had soared to 79 degrees, drawing thousands to the parade. Cami's group walked in that parade, and all of our grandkids were on the sidelines taking in the sights. But Sunday was a different story weatherwise. It was cloudy, drizzling, and cold! The temperature topped out at about 55 degrees in the morning and dropped further during the afternoon. I think it was about 51 degrees when we went to the outdoor venue. All of the dancers were required to wear their dance school T-shirts and shorts! Joan and I were sitting in chairs wearing warm coats, hoods, and blankets over our legs, and poor tiny Cami was dancing on stage with shorts and a T-shirt. Needless to say, they moved things right along to try to keep the kids warm, but Cami was still freezing (picture shows Cami dancing with the teenage girls!). It was a quick exit to our cars when the dancing was over.
Joan was glad to see Cami dance as she'd never had the opportunity. Al's illness had kept them in Chicago for almost 2 years. Joan said she had been in mourning for that long and now wanted to get on living. I'm glad she's going to be moving here permanently.
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