Dirty Work for the Family

Well... I said I'd start writing this again, if at least for therapeutic reasons, so here goes.


Friday morning, I got up reluctantly (as usual).  Showered, shaved, and prepared for another 8 hours in the office.  I picked up my Blackberry, and noted that there had already been 2 phone calls this morning.  Notably, they were both from my family.
I listened to the first message, already knowing what was to come:  My dad's voice saying "mother... dead.  See ya."  He had a stroke and has a VERY limited vocabulary -the 'see ya', although strangely comical, wasn't intentional.
Wife and I quickly got ready and booked the train to my family's hometown.  Other than brief respite Sunday night back in Toronto, i've been in Hometown since then. 
Endless phone calls and drop-ins, while well-meaning, have led to a general state of exhaustion in the house. Surprisingly, most of the funeral and burial arrangements were made within 12 hours of her passing.  It's amazing how smoothly these things are set out.

Since then I've been spending most of my time finding and photoshopping a good photo of my mum, writing a speech, fielding phone calls from everyone in town, and searching for those long-lost family friends that may or may not still be alive or in Canada.

My family is dealing with it quite well for now.  Her illness debilitated her for around a year, so i think we had unconsciously prepared beforehand.

Anyway, my father is shouting for me to go with him to pick out the gravesite.  He knows I like shopping...