Stray Cats and Sombre Memories

Hi everyone. My cousin Andrew is here right now. Andrew says "hi". Actually, Andrew says "meow." He's fallen in love with this little stray feline that's been calling our grandmama's home its home. He thinks that the cat's tail has a particularly fond aura. Don't ask me what that means; it's just something Andrew only just said, which I quoted in verbatim. And he just meowed again. Andrew, not the cat. Oy vey. The whole family's talking about the cat now: everyone's wondering who it belongs to, and why it's been hanging around. I'm sure there's some lore somewhere about kitties and people who've moved on from this earth. Hmmmm. Anyway. Here are some pointless pics of de kitty:







So, today was the day of grandma's funeral, which was a rather... um... funereal affair. Funeral service was at 3pm, before which we had the traditional accompanying-the-hearse-to-the-church walk. Mass was held, with my cousin Andrew (of the meowing fame) and old friend Andre performing music. Halfway through I thought, "Hey, can't I play?" (trust me to bring on a self-involved moment), and thereafter threw Andre off the piano seat and played the thanksgiving hymn, LOL. ;)) So that was really good, and it made me feel a bit more involved in the whole ceremony. And it was good to catch up with Andre after so many years, so that was cool.

After church we accompanied the entourage (heh) up to the Catholic cemetery, which I didn't even know existed in this little old village. Prayers, tears, burial, and almost naturally given the sombre affair, it began to rain. And then it was over, and now we're back in grandma's old house, where the family is still squabbling like the crazy characters in tv's Brothers & Sisters; the mystery cat is causing chaos by getting between everyone's legs; I'm sitting on the old swing that used to provide hours of mindless entertainment back when I was a kid; and all seems OK again, with one person sadly but acceptably no longer in this world, put to peaceful and prayerful rest at last.