Wow. I'm exhausted. And with good reason! We have been travelling all over Southern Ontario and Michigan for the past four days. It all started with the idea that we should go to American Thanksgiving so that Alexa could meet Jevon's other living grandparent: his father's mother. Then came the realization that Green Bay was playing in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, so plans were altered to include a trip to Detroit with Jevon's sister (Lisa) and her family.
Plans were further altered when Jevon's Oma (his mother's mother) passed away. We knew that the most important item on the agenda would be Oma's funeral.
On Wednesday, I was SUPER organized, and picked Jevon up from his work at 3 PM. We started driving right away and arrived at our hotel in Detroit in relatively good time. Jevon and Charles went to the football game on Thursday while Lisa, the four kids, and I went for a walk, had a visit, played in the chilly hotel pool and paddled in the toasty hotel hot tub (Alexa and Simon sat on the edge and splashed their feet in the water; they are too small for hot tubs). We all hung out for Thursday night dinner and another swim before bed-time for the babies.
We were up bright and early Friday morning to head back over the border to Oma's funeral in Sarnia. It was a sad event, but it was also a real celebration of her full life. Oma was 92, and during her final years, she suffered from advanced Alzheimer's. In a way, many members of her family had said their goodbyes already and were really able to focus on Oma's life more than on her death. The family met for her burial first, then had the funeral service, followed by a family meal. I've been to a few funerals (not many, thankfully), and this was a nice one: heartfelt and personal. We were able to catch up with some family at the meal afterwards.
After the funeral, we headed back over the border to the family Thanksgiving reunion. We arrived at Jevon's aunt and uncle's house in Holland, Michigan late on Friday night. At the reunion in Grand Rapids on Saturday, Alexa met Great-Grandma and many second-cousins, third-cousins, and great-aunts and -uncles. She was the youngest great-grandkid at the party (by a few months). Many thanks to Jevon's cousin Jennifer, who held a sleeping Alexa in her arms for 45 minutes at the reunion.
On Sunday, we headed home, making a small detour to an outlet mall to do some shopping. By the time we got home, it was 10 PM.
Alexa has been a trouper despite the chaos of travelling, naps in the car, missed naps, and seeing dozens (hundreds?) of family members. She had a bit of a melt-down at bedtime last night, but has otherwise been charming the pants off of Jevon's family.
I've had a lovely few days, and I'm happy that we said goodbye to Oma while still fitting in a football game and a reunion to bookend our sad event with two joyful ones.
I'm also very happy to be home.
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