This is a neat picture with all of the Arlington graves making a perfect background for this somber scene.
And here's a picture of the whole
entourage (from left to right): Leia Rose, Carol (Grandma,
Miney's 3rd Daughter), Annie, Noelle (
Mamma), Brian (Daddy), Kevin (Shirley's son, Cousin once removed), Will (Patty's son, Cousin once removed), Stuart (Shirley's ex-husband, or Uncle once removed, . . . he's a good friend of the family now), Melissa (Shirley's daughter, Cousin once removed), Herb (Diane's husband, Uncle once removed), Shirley (
Miney's 2
nd daughter), Carolyn (a friend of the family), Kim (Shirley's daughter, Cousin once removed), Diane (
Miney's 4
th daughter), Jackie (a friend of the family), another friend of the family, Tracy (Patty's daughter, Cousin once removed), Matthew (Tracy's husband, Cousin once removed), Patty (
Miney's 1st
daugher), Charlie (Patty's husband, Uncle once removed), and another old friend of Shirley's.
Now here's a spot of sunshine in the day. Annie was enjoying me peeking at her from behind the pew. (Now that Annie is crawling, she always wants to be moving, so strollers are a must at Mass. Why didn't I think of this with Leia Rose?!?)
Peek!
Dad was the first to give a eulogy, and he did a marvelous job. Most notably, I remember Grandpa saying, "I never called her by her nickname of "Booty" because I had such respect for her." (By the way, I'm not sure where that nickname that came from. They were called "Booty and Bill," from WWII times maybe? Grandma, you'll have to clue me in.) Will, your cousin once removed, gave a heartfelt eulogy as well, with tears at the end. Most notably, I remember Will saying, "
Miney liked her meat real rare. It's funny the things you remember." Then of course, there's the Grandkids' nickname of Miney. (Shall I tell that story again?) It was either Kim or Melissa who asked for things as a little child. Miney would constantly reply, "I'm sorry, that's mine." Hence the name "Miney." And Miney would constantly call her husband "Honey," hence the name "Hunnins." As for me, I didn't know Miney quite as well, but I do remember that she loved her coffee perkelated, . . . so much so that when her perkelator was broken, she would just microwave the coffee to heat it up. And my biggest memory of Miney was when Leia Rose was one-and-a-half. We had been there on our first visit about five minutes when Miney said, "Does this child ever take a nap?!?" That really made me laugh! : ) And of course, the last time we saw Miney, the only word she said was "Hi!" very emphatically to Leia Rose, . . . very possibly the very last word she spoke.
Then it was off to the
columbarium.
Will, your cousin once removed, was the one to actually bury
Miney.
Here is
Miney's and
Hunnin's final resting place. Only
Hunnins has his name here so far. The temporary plaque above shows
Miney's name as "Francis Mae Lady." And her name will be engraved very soon, I'm sure. They rest in Court 6, for the next time we go visit.
Miney and
Hunnins really have a wonderful resting spot. In front of them is this nice fountain (in which Leia Rose made another wish for, you guessed it, "going to the dinosaur museum").
Behind them is a beautiful view of the Washington Monument, and the last open land of the cemetery yet to be built upon.
. . . and Leia Rose really brightened up my day by giving me a "
Jumpin' Hug." : )
Shirley told us that it was
Miney's last wish to take everyone, the whole family, out to her very favorite fancy Chinese
restaurant: The Peking Palace. So here we are, thanks to
Miney! (The only sadness was that
Miney's oldest
daughter, Patty, who is semi-estranged from the family, refused to attend.) Here's Herb (your uncle once removed), Leia, Grandma, (a waiter), and Kevin (your cousin once removed). Check out Leia's fancy straw! I think it looks like a firework. The table was set up with the biggest lazy
suzan that we had ever seen. She REALLY wanted to get in the middle of it and spin. I was tempted, I'll admit (and can you believe some of the family suggested it too), but we settled on propriety instead. : ) I kept telling Leia Rose that this was just like that little scene in the birthday episode of Elmo's World, where the little Chinese girl celebrates her grandma's 80
th birthday. Even the table looks similar!
And even though Annie was stuck in a corner to give everyone more room, : ( she stayed happy just chewing on a fortune cookie, still in the plastic. I wish her fortune had made more sense (I was able to salvage it when it was only half
disintegrated). It read something like, "If you stay true to yourself, you will discover the hidden mystery." Mine was quite appropriate, actually, . . . "Now is the time to pamper yourself!" Ha!
And here was one of the most amazing things about this evening: Leia Rose loved the duck!!! She kept saying, "
Mamma, we've GOT to bring some of this home!" and "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" Hey, duck it is, my little skinny-
minny. (But still . . . Could she have picked something more expensive to like?) My little Leia Rose usually eats like a bird, and tonight was the first time I ever saw her eat like a true barbarian. (Grandpa kept comparing her to Henry VIII.)
Leia Rose was especially intrigued with Uncle Herb's facial hair. She just doesn't know anyone else who has this much! : ) Herb would tell me a funny story later about how
Miney made Herb shave his beard to be able to marry her
daughter Diane. Here was this little tiny lady making this huge demand, and all Herb could do is throw his hands up in the air and meekly say, "okay." He started growing it back on the honeymoon. (Ha!)
And guess who else eats at this restaurant often?!? . . . Our pro-life hero! (Did you know that there are 1.5 million children aborted each year, . . . in the United States
alone?!?
In order for Mamma and Daddy to get ready, we hoped Annie and Leia would get entranced by a DVD. They did.
Got to love these loving exchanges at the Hampton Inn breakfast this morning.
Got to play that head-tilt game with Grandma!
Shirley had this ceramic frog sitting on the floor, and Annie finally signed "frog"! (Which looks a lot like waving good-bye.) : )
Here's Annie engrossed by Kevin, her cousin once removed. : )
This is a neat picture with all of the Arlington graves making a perfect background for this somber scene.
And here's a picture of the whole entourage (from left to right): Leia Rose, Carol (Grandma, Miney's 3rd Daughter), Annie, Noelle (Mamma), Brian (Daddy), Kevin (Shirley's son, Cousin once removed), Will (Patty's son, Cousin once removed), Stuart (Shirley's ex-husband, or Uncle once removed, . . . he's a good friend of the family now), Melissa (Shirley's daughter, Cousin once removed), Herb (Diane's husband, Uncle once removed), Shirley (Miney's 2nd daughter), Carolyn (a friend of the family), Kim (Shirley's daughter, Cousin once removed), Diane (Miney's 4th daughter), Jackie (a friend of the family), another friend of the family, Tracy (Patty's daughter, Cousin once removed), Matthew (Tracy's husband, Cousin once removed), Patty (Miney's 1st daugher), Charlie (Patty's husband, Uncle once removed), and another old friend of Shirley's.
Now here's a spot of sunshine in the day. Annie was enjoying me peeking at her from behind the pew. (Now that Annie is crawling, she always wants to be moving, so strollers are a must at Mass. Why didn't I think of this with Leia Rose?!?)
Peek!
Dad was the first to give a eulogy, and he did a marvelous job. Most notably, I remember Grandpa saying, "I never called her by her nickname of "Booty" because I had such respect for her." (By the way, I'm not sure where that nickname that came from. They were called "Booty and Bill," from WWII times maybe? Grandma, you'll have to clue me in.) Will, your cousin once removed, gave a heartfelt eulogy as well, with tears at the end. Most notably, I remember Will saying, "Miney liked her meat real rare. It's funny the things you remember." Then of course, there's the Grandkids' nickname of Miney. (Shall I tell that story again?) It was either Kim or Melissa who asked for things as a little child. Miney would constantly reply, "I'm sorry, that's mine." Hence the name "Miney." And Miney would constantly call her husband "Honey," hence the name "Hunnins." As for me, I didn't know Miney quite as well, but I do remember that she loved her coffee perkelated, . . . so much so that when her perkelator was broken, she would just microwave the coffee to heat it up. And my biggest memory of Miney was when Leia Rose was one-and-a-half. We had been there on our first visit about five minutes when Miney said, "Does this child ever take a nap?!?" That really made me laugh! : ) And of course, the last time we saw Miney, the only word she said was "Hi!" very emphatically to Leia Rose, . . . very possibly the very last word she spoke.
Then it was off to the columbarium.
Will, your cousin once removed, was the one to actually bury Miney.
Here is Miney's and Hunnin's final resting place. Only Hunnins has his name here so far. The temporary plaque above shows Miney's name as "Francis Mae Lady." And her name will be engraved very soon, I'm sure. They rest in Court 6, for the next time we go visit.
Miney and Hunnins really have a wonderful resting spot. In front of them is this nice fountain (in which Leia Rose made another wish for, you guessed it, "going to the dinosaur museum"). 
Behind them is a beautiful view of the Washington Monument, and the last open land of the cemetery yet to be built upon.
. . . and Leia Rose really brightened up my day by giving me a "Jumpin' Hug." : )
Shirley told us that it was Miney's last wish to take everyone, the whole family, out to her very favorite fancy Chinese restaurant: The Peking Palace. So here we are, thanks to Miney! (The only sadness was that Miney's oldest daughter, Patty, who is semi-estranged from the family, refused to attend.) Here's Herb (your uncle once removed), Leia, Grandma, (a waiter), and Kevin (your cousin once removed). Check out Leia's fancy straw! I think it looks like a firework. The table was set up with the biggest lazy suzan that we had ever seen. She REALLY wanted to get in the middle of it and spin. I was tempted, I'll admit (and can you believe some of the family suggested it too), but we settled on propriety instead. : ) I kept telling Leia Rose that this was just like that little scene in the birthday episode of Elmo's World, where the little Chinese girl celebrates her grandma's 80th birthday. Even the table looks similar!
And even though Annie was stuck in a corner to give everyone more room, : ( she stayed happy just chewing on a fortune cookie, still in the plastic. I wish her fortune had made more sense (I was able to salvage it when it was only half disintegrated). It read something like, "If you stay true to yourself, you will discover the hidden mystery." Mine was quite appropriate, actually, . . . "Now is the time to pamper yourself!" Ha!
And here was one of the most amazing things about this evening: Leia Rose loved the duck!!! She kept saying, "Mamma, we've GOT to bring some of this home!" and "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" Hey, duck it is, my little skinny-minny. (But still . . . Could she have picked something more expensive to like?) My little Leia Rose usually eats like a bird, and tonight was the first time I ever saw her eat like a true barbarian. (Grandpa kept comparing her to Henry VIII.)
Leia Rose was especially intrigued with Uncle Herb's facial hair. She just doesn't know anyone else who has this much! : ) Herb would tell me a funny story later about how Miney made Herb shave his beard to be able to marry her daughter Diane. Here was this little tiny lady making this huge demand, and all Herb could do is throw his hands up in the air and meekly say, "okay." He started growing it back on the honeymoon. (Ha!)
And guess who else eats at this restaurant often?!? . . . Our pro-life hero! (Did you know that there are 1.5 million children aborted each year, . . . in the United States alone?!?
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