2/52 Storytelling

I'm of the belief that all pictures tell a story, but some just melt my heart!

Nikon D80,  50mm , manual, ISO 1250 f1.8

31 days of 2012 - Day 4

Bradley cemetery. March 2012.

Read about why I was there.

Where did you go?!

Long time no blog. Most mom bloggers stop writing because they are pregnant and feel crappy.


I'm not pregnant. I was just off having way too much fun to sit down and write posts for you people.

Here's a little bit about what we were doing.


We drove to Michigan.


With a 13 month old.



Who thinks the car is trying to kill her and the carseat is there to strangle her to death.

It was 1600 miles round trip.

Here's a quick run down of how we survived...

• I sat in the back with her
• Snacks
• Hidden toys
• Endless imagination which included new games such as Towel Head and Hair Elastic On Foot
• Kids music
• More snacks (they were that important)

My favorite part of the ride were the great road signs we encountered. I feel like when a crazy road sign is about to come up, there should be a courtesy road sign before it letting you know to get your camera.

 

But since courtesy warning signs don't exist, and we flew right by the two best highway signs I've ever seen...I will have to draw you pictures instead. 

I know you are excited. 

So maybe 80% of the country is used to these signs. I'm fairly well traveled and I have never seen one like this before. 

Ignore the fact that my bears look like pigs and hippos. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BEARS?! 

I've seen bear crossing signs with one bear. But this is a flock of bears. I just learned that a group of bears is actually called a Sleuth. My bear knowledge is obviously lacking. Do bears even travel like this? Can a mamma bear have 3 cubs? Can someone who knows something about bears please enlighten me. Excuse me while I go watch the nature channel.

Sign number two was only slightly more terrifying. 

Thanks for the heads up.



Yannos and I are pretty in love with our Michigan trip. Our time in Midland with family was wonderfully relaxing and the wedding in Traverse City was gorgeous.

Zoe learned how to walk

We ate pheasant

I got Zoe to wear a headband

 

The view was to die for

We got to hang out at a lake

We ate the best cherries known to man

We didn't run out of gas!!

Zoe was taking a wonderful nap and we really did not want to wake her up. It was risky business.

P52 Week 25 - Fathers

My two favorite fathers in the world

My father in-law showed me what fathers are supposed to be.
My husband doesn't need to change one thing when it comes to being a father to Zoe.
They have the same ankles.
More importantly, they have the same footprints.

An Ode to Grandparents

Our Greece trip was filled with a lot of amazing things, but one of my favorites was watching Zoe with her Grammie (my mom) and Pappou (Yannos's dad). We missed Yiayia (Yannos's mom) but she is required to come on the next trip. Actually, now I can't imagine going on a vacation without a grandparent around. It just added so much to the trip to watch them enjoy Zoe.

I was lucky enough to catch some great moments

And Myrto captured this silly moment

And some relaxing moments

Zoe and Grammie were enjoying this sweet view from our lunch spot

And it helps that our parents enjoy each other too!

Even though this is Greek Week and Yiayia wasn't in Greece with us. Here's a picture from Greek Easter. So it counts.

Day is Done

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.

Because I feel the need to finish this story.

Papa has had a plan for this day for a long time. When he was sick and up in Huntsville, we were a little unsettled about him being buried so far away from where Nana lives. I couldn't connect him to Bradley, AL. I didn't have any memories of him there. Bradley is literally as far away as you can possibly get in the state of Alabama. It is also in the middle of nowhere. 

The day started off looking like this, which matched my mood.

The fog slowly cleared. We spent the morning with the horses.

 

 

 

This is Daisy. She's actually a mule, but unlike the rest of my family I was not raised on a farm, so I can't tell the difference. Something about her giant ears. 

 

When I woke in the morning. I was told that no one was asked to speak at Papa's funeral because many of the relatives were so uncomfortable with public speaking.

I was uneasy with this. It just didn't feel right. For a while we discussed my mom doing it, and she actually wrote something beautiful. I ended up adapting her eulogy to my point of view, so I can't really take much credit. 

I stood up there in front of some faces I know perfectly and some faces that should be more familiar to me. I made eye contact with loved ones and somehow managed to keep it together. I even got laughs, which was incredibly comforting since a few of them sounded like the man we were all missing. 

The part I hope I always remember vividly was the Air Force Honor Guard. Their precision and professionalism was the most impressive thing I have ever witnessed. Their training guide is 100+ pages long. Every move is calculated. Every action rooted in respect and tradition. I just learned from Wikipedia (a credible source) that the way they carry the coffin is called the pall-bearing sequence. There is a demonstration video if interested, and they are remarkable. 


I overheard some relatives talking about how the last thing Papa said to them was that he loved them. I stood there and smiled as I realized that those were his last words to me too. What a wonderful thing to have. 


We left for Greece 14 hours after we got home from the funeral. On the plane, they had a video game that Papa played. When I recognized it, I said excitedly, "Papa plays that game!" I felt the error of my present tense knot up inside me and just started crying. 


How long does it take to stop forgetting that someone is gone?

So much happiness surrounded that day. I saw relatives I hadn't seen in decades, and met some family for the first time. I got to take a picture with my mom next to the same tree that she did with hers, and the generation before that. I got to hear beautiful/funny/mischievous stories about someone I love. After all the anecdotes of him growing up playing in those woods. Swimming in those creeks. Driving on those roads. I can't believe I was ever worried about it being so remote. It's his family's land. It's home.

P52 Week 14 - Fooling Around

Having recently lost my grandfather, I couldn't resist this shot of Zoe and her Papou. Grandparents are wonderful things.

Strawberry Ice Cream

My grandfather goes by Papa.
He died yesterday.
It is horribly sad, but I am comforted by the fact that it was a short process. 

Someone asked me if we were close. We lived far away from each other, so I didn't answer right away. Yannos jumped in and said, "Yes, they were very close."

There were times in my life that he and my mom were the only blood relatives that I had any contact with.
He walked me down the aisle.

He wore a TIE and a "monkey suit". Papa doesn't really do those things.

...

When I was a child, my Nana had a rule. Only one ice cream carton could be open at a time. It was a good rule, but difficult for picky girls who only ate chocolate ice cream when there was a gallon of strawberry left.

You would think I'd just get over it. Suck it up. Eat whatever flavor was open. But I didn't. Well, I didn't have to. Papa always rescued me. He would eat the rest of whatever flavor I was rejecting so I could open the container of my choice. Even if it meant eating a gallon of strawberry ice cream in one sitting.

I don't eat ice cream anymore, but I feel the need to buy some.

 ...

He was the first person to make my daughter laugh. I thought he was crazy for wasting his time trying to make an 8 week old laugh. He sat there for 15 minutes waving his arms and making silly faces. Then I heard it.

"Ehuh, ehuh."


He deserved it. He worked hard for that chuckle.

When he went into the ICU a few weeks ago, his speech was hard to understand for most of my visit, but then very clearly he said, "You didn't come all this way to look at an old man?"

I said I would sit there all day and stare at him.

 ...

After he had a kidney removed in 2008, the nurse told him he could slowly return to all of his previous activities. That poor nurse didn't know what she was getting into.

"Can I go on my 2 mile walk?"
"No"
"Can I finish axing my stump?"
"No"
"Can I mow the yard?"
"No"

...

Before he was a Papa, he was a rough man. He got in a lot of fights. He was a trouble maker. He has changed a lot, but some things are hard to shake.

The ICU has a no kids policy. We were only allowed in for 20 minutes 4 times a day. One day, Zoe was out in the hallway with my mom while I went in to visit. He said,

"Where's your youngin'?"

"Out in the hall. You want me to sneak her in?"

He got a twinkle in his eye. "Yeah!"




Read the funeral follow up here.