Lynchburg

We're off to Lynchburg this weekend for Mike's private family service. At Dad's suggestion, we're going to be more casual with this one. We're all going to wear T-shirts with Mike's art on them. I'm not sure how that's going to go over with our more conservative "country cousins" but I guess we'll find out.

I'm a little nervous about the whole thing. I was in such a fog during the Durham service. I was still in shock about Mike's death and having trouble sleeping and eating. While I'm still having a hard time with it, I've had the chance to calm down and be my old self again. Dad wants me to read my eulogy again and I don't know if I can do it. Firstly, at the Durham service, I was on autopilot and I knew a lot the people that were there. This one's for our parents' families and, frankly, I haven't seen or spoken to most of these people in twenty years. Secondly, the eulogy was written with a comic book crowd in mind and a lot of the references will just sail over their heads. But we're there to honor Mike and so I'll give it my best shot.

We were worried about leaving Charlie and Toonces alone in the house overnight, but they're getting along pretty well now. Not exactly friends but they're tolerating each other. As my friend Christian suggested, it seems Charlie has read Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR and keeps trying to take the high ground. (That was a good laugh, my friend!) Also, fortunately, Suzanne's sister is coming up to house-sit while we're gone and take her cute little kids to King's Dominion, a trip that's become a sort of yearly tradition. I was actually looking forward to seeing them (yes, honey, I swear I was) but it will just be long enough to pass off the keys this year. Hopefully, "the boyz" will be on their best behavior in front of their Aunt Jennifer.

So, if you're reading this, keep us in your thoughts this weekend. Despite Dad's insistence that this will be a celebration and not a funeral, I'm not sure we can put on a happy face just yet. This is going to be a tough weekend.