Thank you for your kind words. He truly was a wonderful uncle. I was not able to attend his funeral, since he was buried in Vermont (which was his birthplace), but my parents went and called me to tell me what a nice service it was.

They also said it was an unusual service for them, since we are Catholic, and my uncle was Jewish. Apparently, it is a Jewish tradition for everyone to place a shovelful of dirt in the grave. My uncle's granddaughter, who is 4 and didn't really comprehend the finality of her grandfather's death, thought this was GREAT, and wanted to throw more dirt in. Thankfully, my family (including me), focuses on the lighter side of things, and we all agreed that my uncle would have gotten a HUGE kick out of this. In fact, after "Julia" took her turn at the gravesite, my cousin turned around to look for her and found her back at the grave, helping the gravediggers push more dirt in the hole. She was having a large time.

My father told me he had to wear a "beanie". I asked him, "You mean a Yarmulke"? "Yeah! That's it! It kept my bald spot warm!!" So now he's considering converting to the Jewish faith just to wear the "beanie".

But they are on their way back home now. My aunt is staying back North to be with her daughter, who has insisted she stay thru Christmas. We all thought again, that this was a great idea, except for her other daughter (yeah - the Garage Sale Queen). SHE is royally ticked off because my aunt babysits her children for her during the day. She threw a FIT because WHO was going to take care of the monsters children NOW? Un-freaking-believable.

You know... she was in a really bad car accident about 15 years ago. This coincides with the time her behavior tendancies really surfaced. I wonder if being conked on the noggin like she did (her car flipped upside) knocked the "caring human being" circuit out of order? Something's wrong with her.

But look, I'll be back tomorrow with my "normal" (or abnormal) programming. I just didn't feel like posting much earlier.

Again, thanks for all your well-wishes. AND -- to Linda & Denny and Spicy Cracker ....I received your Christmas Cards in the mail!! You guys are sooooo sweet!! If I sent out Christmas Cards (which I never do because I'm lazy), you would be the first two to receive them!! Thank you!! It's so nice to be included on Christmas Card lists. Maybe I should start doing this.....

Norman!