a funeral

 my sister and brother-in-law returned from paris saturday morning and today we met them on long island for the funeral of my mom and dad's dear friend greta (we had a lovely visit with greta in 2014, which i need to post - it was a fun visit and i have great pics from the day). i was excited to see my sister again, as i had missed her.

 studying the map to see where the burial would be, and to see where our grandfather and grandmother's gravestone is. 

 getting on the road for the gravesite . . 

 the stones are very orderly . . this is long island national cemetery which was established in the 1930's for the burial of many world war ii veterans. within the first eight years from 1937, it had 10,000 interments. my grandfather fought in ww i, and we saw many stones with veterans from that war.

we parked along the road and walked towards the site where the ashes would be interred.

  thankfully, the rain played itself out early in the morning and stayed away for the burial (kathy and warren were up early to catch the ferry to port jefferson and had been caught in the downpour - i remember it well as i was still in bed).

granddaughter dawn is holding a photo of her grandmother and grandfather, greta and walter, which will be placed in the cache with the ashes.

the documentation was impeccable. the gravesite caretakers, who were both veterans, even used a gps to catalog the exact placement.

after the ceremony and interment, we drove to another section of the cemetery before heading to the reception. my father's mom and dad are both buried here as my grandfather was a veteran of world war i. 

 greg keeps our genealogy records for his family and for mine. taking pictures of the gravestone was an important documentation.

 i requested a pic of the guys in their jackets . . !

we're having a good time here, or at least i am. .

i often feel sad that i didn't get to know my father's mom and dad better. there are so many questions i would like to ask them now, especially of my grandmother. she died when i was fifteen, and i think i was eight or so when my grandfather died.

greta's family hosted a wonderful lunch afterwards at an italian restaurant in melville.

the choices were chicken parmagiana (which kathy and warren had), filet of sole (that was me), and penne with a tomato cream sauce (greg). italian pastries and coffee and tea arrived for dessert.

 the best was the cheesecake at the top of the plate . . it was very sweet!

 my sister and i are mainly in touch with greta's daughter doreen. she and her husband came to my mom's funeral in may.

my sister is a little younger than doreen . . enough so that doreen babysat her a few times. 

 i have found that when you are the next in line of your family to die, that funerals are fun and one looks forward to seeing old friends . . who one normally would not see.

----

below are several photos of my parents with greta and her friends and family:

 this is probably taken at montauk, as my parents often had friends visit them there. above is their friend isabel and her husband (isabel was a close friend of greta's).

 greta and her husband walter, whom my dad was good friends with before walter had a stroke in the early 1980's.

 greta and isabel with my mom on the deck at montauk.

 above is my mom and greta at milleridge inn, a restaurant they enjoyed going to on long island (i once worked there as a waitress, and on mother's day donned a mickey mouse costume that the inn supplied to entertain little children. i called my parents to come see me, but didn't tell them why. my mother guessed who i was anyway. she said she recognized my shoes, which at the time were a type of oxford in white - i had bought them with one of my first paychecks in california when i was working in my aunt's office).

 with greta and isabel's husband (isabel is probably taking the photo) on the deck out on montauk.

 with greta in front of the fireplace on montauk.

 this photo is from a new year's eve party in 1967 when they all lived in north massapequa on long island. my parents are in the center, with my dad kneeling in front of my mom (who has on the funny pointed hat!).

 now, i'm actually not sure where this photo was taken . . and i'm not sure who everyone is in it, though i recognize doreen and greta and isabel. perhaps it was at doreen's home and was a party for greta? doreen had her mom in an assisted living community just a few blocks from her home in commack for many years - very similar to what my sister did for my mom and dad.

this is a photo of greta from many years ago, with her cat . . i do remember the cat, but not the cat's name.

my sister's  favorite photo of my mom, dad and greta. they were big card game buddies, and played many rounds of may i together. 

 saying good-bye and heading home . . 

beneath a beautiful sky . . 

i have so many memories of making this drive with my mom and dad as a child when we would head into the city at christmas time to see the holiday windows.

 and other times to show visiting friends and family the sights of nyc . . 

home again . .