The Funeral

The girls went with us to Jason's Uncle Eddie's funeral last Monday. They knew him and had met him a couple of times, but were not extremely close with him, so I thought it would be okay for them to attend and to be introduced to the fact that we do sometimes lose our loved ones.
Emma was pretty upset that morning and didn't want to get out of the car when we got there. She was sad and did not like being at a cemetery. After a couple of talks she loosened up, and she was excited to see some other family members there.
Ally had no clue. She kept asking where he was. I think we had phrased things like, "We're going to say goodbye to Uncle Eddie".
She would try to run around, being her usual goofy self. I did my best to contain her and I hope no one else was bothered by her antics. The girls and I sat in the car for most of the wait time.

Eddie was a veteran and had a very nice service. Two guards folded and presented the flag to his son, and another guard played Taps behind us. It was beautiful.
Emma sat still and quiet through the whole thing. Ally sat still, and was very quiet, but was VERY curious! She kept asking about the flag, whispering,

"What are they doing with the flag, Mama? Why are they doing that? Why are they making it into a triangle? Why are they giving it to his son?" and on and on and on...
Then she noticed "the box".

"Why is that box there, Mama? Why is that there? What is in that box, Mama? Can we look in there? Are they going to open that box?" etc. etc....

When the service was finished, I whisked her away and we took a walk along a pretty little tank and found some geese and ducks to occupy us.

I know this in not my typical, upbeat, fun and games post. I'm trying to include more of our life events, simply to help me remember them down the road.
I think this was an important event-both girls understand that Uncle Eddie is in a better place, and them being a part of the event opens up doors to discuss other concerns or fears.

The two of them had included him in our prayers lately, asking God to take care of him, and to make sure Eddie finds his Mama and Daddy.

They have also had an argument about whether or not he has met Dr. Seuss.

All in a day...

;)