If there’s one thing a death in the family does, it’s bringing families together. Physically together. If you’ve been reading my blog at all the past couple of weeks, you’d know that my mom’s dad passed away last week–the man I lovingly referred to as Papa. And though we were crushed by the news, there was happiness as we celebrated our memories of him. And even more happiness as family who is rarely ever together all at the same time was there. All in one place, to celebrate and to mourn. My dad drove fourteen hours to come to the funeral, even though he and mom my have been divorced for about thirty years. It meant a lot. And my brother!  He came in from overseas, unexpectedly. He took FOUR planes to arrive to Buffalo and traveled for nearly a day and a half.

My dad made sure to stay an extra day, so he and both of my brothers camped out at our house for a night. We looked at old pictures, laughed, talked about cooking, ate some good “Buffalonian” food (even though we were in Rochester), and spent a couple of hours at a bowling alley, where all three of them know how to properly bowl.

Good times, amidst the sadness. That’s what family is for.