Too many emotions

David, my oldest brother, graduated from Wheaton College in Chicago, Illinois the beginning of May. It was around the time of mother's day, my grandma's 70th, and my mom's birthday, so all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents met in Chicago for a reunion. It was great seeing everybody again. On our way to Chicago, we stopped in St. Louis for a night to see my other grandparents. It was Thursday when we saw my grandpa. He had Parkinson's disease, and was going down hill very quickly. He was losing his appetite, and losing weight. He was so weak when we saw him. I had never been with him when he couldn't even say hello or turn his head. He heard everything we said to him....he just couldn't communicate. It broke my heart. He wasn't the old Papa I used to know--the man who always made hilarious jokes and kept us smiling. No, he was motionless. Brian and I sang him a few songs and read him some verses from the Bible. Our family prayed for him before we left and told him his granddaughter and daughter in law were going to come see him this weekend. We headed to Chicago and had a busy weekend there. We drove on Friday morning from Wheaton to my Uncle's house about an hour away from campus. It was great. It was such pretty neighborhood. We saw my cousins, Anna and James. They are adorable. =]p We spent the whole day there as the other family members arrived, and we all reunited and it was amazing. I loooove my family. Saturday, we went to this fancy hotel where the rest of our family was staying--the Drake. We hung out there for a while. This happened right outside the hotel-- http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/possible-police-involved-shooting-near-drake-hotel.html
That was really exciting...since at first everything was so unclear, it was fun trying to guess what had happened from what we heard and by looking at the police cars. =]
Sunday, there was a baccalaureate service in honor of the graduates--it was good. After that, there was a brunch that all the family came to. Yum. That was the last time we were going to see all the family members on this trip, so we took group pics, and said our goodbyes. :[ We went to David's apartment to get him packed up and moved out. We packed and cleaned for a while until it was time to go to the actual commencement ceremony. There were 597 graduates. :[p It ended up going pretty quickly though..and we got to scream for David when he went up..so that was fun. He graduated summa cum laude (with highest honors). =] I like him. A lot. The day after graduation, he left for Europe with his singing group. They are singing at churches and orphanages. It was hard saying goodbye to him again too. He'll be home late this Monday night. I can't wait to see him.
But back to the trip....Monday morning, on my mom's birthday, we got the news: my grandpa had passed away. it was REALLY hard. We were planning on driving back to St. Louis that day anyway, and were going to visit him on our way out to KS. But...he...was...gone. We stayed at my aunt's house again, and it was good spending time with them (my aunt, uncle and cousins) after seeing them in Chicago. We stayed there from Monday until Thursday. We got to chill and hang out at the house, although at moments it was hardly relaxing, just because I was so ready for the week to be over. I kept just wanting to cry.....we had been away from home since Wednesday the week before, so it had only been about a week and a day total. It felt like months to me. I wanted to be home. My mom actually drove to KS on Tuesday to get things from home like my grandad's paintings (he was awesome artist), and some pictures for a slideshow of him to have at the funeral. She drove back the same day. Thursday was the funeral. Brian and I sang I will Rise (Chris Tomlin). I could sense whenever anyone else started to cry, and that made me think of crying... so it was hard to sing, but we did okay. We all drove to the cemetery and since my grandpa fought in WWII and was AMAZING, he had the flag draped over his casket, and two people in uniform folded it and there was a cool ceremony for him to honor his service. There was a gun salute and it was loud. They played the taps. It hit everybody then. All he had done for his country and for everyone he knew. He was a great man. My grandma had a hard time. I felt really bad for her. Al the family members went out to lunch after the funeral. I realized I not only saw everyone on my mom's side of the family that week, but I saw many family members on my dad's side because of the funeral and stuff. That was good...but exhausting. haha. =] I saw my cousin. he's old...er. He has two daughters and is a lawer, so, I keep forgetting he's not my uncle. =] I hadn't seen him in over 8 years, and wondered if he'd remember me, but when he saw me, he gave me a big hug and called me "peanut". =]p That made me happy. Just that he showed me I was special. I can't imagine going through that day without him...he was a blessing to me---he kept me smiling throughout the day. What's next...um, it was in the afternoon on Thursday, and we went back to our aunt's house to pack up our stuff (which we had a ton of) in the two cars we had with us (for a couple reasons). We got to hang out with our cousins for a while before leaving, which made my night. I would have gone home more depressed and emotional otherwise. I was so exhausted, and so were my mom, dad, and brother...but we had a 4 hour car ride ahead of us... ;] It was a good ride. We were maybe 45 minutes from home when my mom and I started singing kid's songs and nursery rhymes to keep her awake and alert for the rest of the drive. That was kind of fun, even though I just wanted to sleeeeep! We got home---and were SO GLAD. It was around midnight....and I had to work the next day and had a super busy weekend...so I think I'm still recovering.... *sigh*
You may not have wanted to read all of this...and I know it's all about how crazy MY life is... Sorry. It was kind of a big thing and I felt like I should share, so, lucky you. ;]