I'm back

from Florida. It was very very very hot. Thankfully the graveside service was in the morning and was family only, so it was brief. This was the first time in many years that the whole family was together. so we made sure to get pictures, because it is highly unlikely we will ever all be together again. Here is me with all my girl cousins(and my sister). We were standing on a hill so those on the left look shorter than they are. And if you don't know which one is me, I am not either of the blondes, those are my cousins Joy and Jena. When I was little, I was the only one who wasn't blonde. I didn't really know my older cousins, but we spent a lot of time with Joy and Jena. My sister used to be a blonde, too, but not anymore. It was good to see everyone.

Funerals, of course, are always a little sad, but I knew last summer that it was probably the last time I would see my grandmother. There were other things that made me sad.

I received an unexpected gift from my Uncle Jimmy. Jimmy never married or had kids(that we know of) and has lived with his mother for the last few years. He doesn't work, he fell off too many ladders when he was a house painter. He drinks alot. But after the grave side service he was still fairly coherent, and I was at his house with my parents while everyone changed clothes. He went back to his bedroom, then came back out to the living room and handed me a box. Don't say I never gave you anything, he said. I looked at it and it was an old box that said "Bible Promises." I looked at my dad, a little confused. That used to sit on our dining room table, and we read a verse every night at dinner, he said. I asked Jimmy if it was really for me. he said yes. It was his, he had brought it home from church when he was a kid. As far as I know, he has never given away anything. When we were kids he would tell us if we paid him a quarter we could sit in his lap. We never took him up on the offer. Then my sister stopped by to pick me up and he had a present for her. He said he had something for our cousin Dana, too. I told him thank you, and that I would sit it on my table for our family to read from at dinner. As we were leaving, I realized that he was giving away pretty much all his possessions. He doesn't have a use for any of these things in his life. But he didn't try to sell them or put them in the trash, he actually thought about who he could give them to. So I realized that my sister, cousin and I are his heirs. He gave us the things that once meant something to him. It may have been a long time ago when they meant something, but he remembered. I burst into tears as my mother, sister and I were walking out the door at this unexpected kindness from a man that has burned every one of his bridges. We don't know what is going to happen to Jimmy, now that his mom is gone. She took care of him until she couldn't even take care of herself. But I will say a prayer for him every time I see the small part of his life he gave to me.