Thanks, everyone. We are all sort of in that numb stage until reality finally sets in. The phone has been ringing all day and I've been trying to pack. Also trying on everything in my closet trying to figure out what I can wear to the funeral, and pressing my hubby's suit pants. Yes, they were together a long time. My sister is 10 years older than me, so my BIL was part of the family for as long as I can remember. They were high school sweethearts. He was a fantastic person; kind and giving, with a huge dose of integrity. They don't make 'em like that anymore. Also, he was a huge Trump supporter! He's probably sitting in God's Waiting Room right now, fuming that he will miss casting his vote in the election!!
I have to share this with the Trump supporters... my sister told me earlier that the night before my BIL died, he was watching Trump's speech. She was going to bed and he said "I'm going to watch the rest of this before I turn in." That was the last thing he ever said to her. We are leaving early in the morning and will drive 800 miles straight through. Not looking forward to that but we have done it many times. We will take turns driving so it won't be too awful. The funeral is at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
We're finally home. It was an exhausting week but the funeral was really nice. My BIL's son-in-law gave the eulogy and my niece played piano for the service. There was a large crowd, with people standing outside in the heat because the church was full. My sister held up well and seems to be OK so far. I'm wondering how she will do living out in the boonies by herself (with just an annoying little dog.) It really feels good to be home.
Beth, This is the first i've read of the passing of your BIL, Sending you and your family heart-felt condolences.
Freakin' hurricane. We got a lot of wind and probably 10" of rain during the storm; many trees down, lots of property damage in the area (minimal for us), and NO power or internet. One side of our backyard fence was blown down (again) and a bunch of casualties in my patio plants. The Ring Neighborhood thing is post after post of morons asking when the power will be restored, like other people have crystal balls or something. (Each whiny post sends a notification to my Apple watch... arrrrrrrrgh.) Why are people so dumb???? Call the power company, dipshit. (Yes, I am hot and irritable.) Our neighbor brought us another lasagna on Monday night; it was really delicious so I need to get her recipe. (She brought us one during the "derecho" power outage, too.) It had both ground beef and pepperoni in it with a ton of cheese. People are crazy, traffic is awful since most of the traffic signals are out, there are lines for miles at gas stations, price gouging, fast food places and big box stores are jammed. Typical hurricane behavior for the unwashed (literally) masses. The heat and humidity is oppressive so cleanup is a real drag. I must have taken 4 showers yesterday. Oh, and no hair dryer, so I look like an escaped mental patient with my wild-ass hair. We have several 5-gallon cans for generator gasoline. It's exciting adding fuel to the generator in the middle of the night, pitch black outside, trying to aim the flashlight and with gasoline leaking everywhere. I don't know what sadist designed the "safety" spouts on gasoline cans but I'd like a private word with that idiot. I don't know if I'm more afraid of burning the house down or carbon monoxide poisoning, but at least we have a generator. We are able to run 2 refrigerators, a freezer, a window unit a/c, a TV, a couple of lamps, and assorted device chargers on the genny. We are sleeping in the den where the a/c is, because the upstairs feels like the bowels of hell when you go up there. Yeah, I've taken cranky to a whole new level, people. I'm working on being grateful for having a house left standing and the means to have a few conveniences, but it's hard I gotta tell ya.
I know what you you mean. We cuss those safety spout gas cans every time we have to use them. I hope you get your power back on soon.