Short Up~Date

Life is passing us by! It's hard to believe that it's June already!! Where does time go? This is the last week of school here and so it's like I'm swamped with last minute things. I told Dennis last night I can't wait until school is over, but he reminded me how quiet it's going to here with no kids around and the teachers gone. All the teacher's go back to their homes whether to the States, Jamaica or their homes here on the Island. Our Principal will go home for two weeks vacation and then will return although she doesn't live here on the campus she will still be here working everyday. I'm looking forward to the quietness and slowing down for several weeks before it starts all over :o)

This past week we had two of our senior friends from Church pass away. Mary, who was a sweet lady, got to the point where she wasn't able to walk back in April. They flew her to Miami where they discovered she had a tumor on her spine which was cancer. She went down hill rather rapidly and passed away last Wednesday. Her funeral was on Sunday. Whew! What a busy day that was. We went to Church Sunday morning and had the Special Olympics Team visit with us. After the service we fed them lunch. They said there would be about 35 of them and there turned out to be probably 50 ~ 60!! So, we went to the cafeteria and I helped serve our guests, got my plate of food and came home. A short time later, we went to the Church for the service. The viewing started at 2:00 with the funeral service beginning at 3:00. I played the piano a short time before the service began. Now until you've been to a Caymanian funeral you have no idea what it is like. There's usually quite a bit of singing ~ by the Congregation and also special songs by family/friends. And then there are the tributes! Well, you want to be sure wherever you are for that that you have a soft, comfortable seat, because these can go on and on and on. Usually a funeral here lasts at least two ~ three hours. And then you go to the cemetery! I decided I would go with Dennis to the cemetery this time since Mary was from our Church. He had told me their custom here for burial and it would be so hard for the family! When we got there, the pallbearers of course carried the casket to where Mary was going to be buried. This particular spot was like wedged in between a lot of other graves and as the pallbearers were carrying the casket in between these narrow places, they almost dropped it and one of the ladies hollered. Finally, they put it at the appropriate place. Dennis was reading Scripture as they were carrying the casket to it's resting place. After they put it over the grave, the people sang and sang and sang!! And then they sang some more. While the singing was going on, the funeral directors were mixing up a bucket of cement. A lot of the men helped put the cement lid on the vault which took several minutes as that thing is huge and very heavy! Now, remember that the grave isn't totally under the ground! After it was in place, the funeral director's began using the mortar to seal the vault into place. Oh, the poor family!! So, so final! And yes, this takes time to go around all four sides to seal it. Again, all the while songs were being sung. Finally, after probably 20 ~ 25 minutes later, Dennis does the committal. Some of the men who I assume were the pallbearer's had boutonnieres and took them off and threw them on the grave while other's took handful's of sand and threw. They do put up the tents for those who want to get out of the sun, but there were a lot of people not even under there. Let me tell you, until you've been out in this tropical sun and heat you have no idea how hot the sun can get. Poor Dennis for a while was standing out by the casket and then later was able to step under the shade. I felt so sorry for the funeral director's. While they were doing the mortar, sweat was just dripping off of their faces. It's unbelievably hot!! We left the cemetery and got back home about 5:45 and our evening Church service begins at 6:00. Poor Dennis!! A very close friend of Mary's family asked me to go visit with the family for a bit as they were getting together. So, I went with her and was so glad I did. I got to visit with the family. This family has been through so much over the past few years! Mary had three children ~ a daughter and two son's. Both of her boy's passed away just within the last two years or so from cancer and now she is gone because of it. She has a granddaughter who lives in England and is a lawyer. I talked to her quite a bit. And then we came back to Church for the last few minutes of the service. I came home and crashed as did Dennis! What a long, long day!

As I said at the beginning of this post, this is the last week of school. That means I'm getting company ~ again. Our friend from Ohio who will be speaking at Commencement will be coming in on Friday. Then Saturday evening, we have our Kindergarten graduation. Oh, my! You talk about funny ~ those kids are just hilarious. I'm playing the piano for their program and had the privilege to practice with them everyday and they are a hoot!! After their graduation, we have our Awards Program where all the grades are presented with trophies and awards for their achievements. That sounds like it will be an exciting evening. Then Sunday, is our Graduation. We have seven students graduating this year! Two of them are planning to go on to law school and one is going to be a pilot. I'm not sure about the others, but wish them all the best. Then our company will be leaving on Monday.

But before all the hoopla for the end of year activities comes, we'll be having another funeral for our friend, Orrville, who also passed away last Wednesday. His services will be on Wednesday. Most of the funerals here are either held on Saturday's or Sunday's, but with school activities this weekend that wouldn't work. So, tomorrow will be another busy, busy day. Go to the office and work several hours ~ run home to change clothes ~ go to the funeral ~ go back to the office and finish up ~ rush home to make dinner ~ go to Wednesday night Church ~ go to bed and crash :o) Just a busy time in our lives right now. But death waits for nobody and you make time for these things and the living go on!!