March 28, 2006
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Michael here in Stephenville. It turned out that Rainey had sent me a text message last night (12:30 a.m.) informing me that she, Chris, and Ben had safely reached Mexico. Duhh… Anyway, we sent Rainey a text message to schedule an 8:300 p.m. CST call down there.
Gabriela answered the phone when we called Tepic. Rainey was there, and there was a houseful of family laughing and talking in the background as we talked. Lorena sounded absolutely wonderful with much laughter and no tears. She went to her father’s funeral mass today and then to the interment. Rainey said Mom was fine but very tired.
Rainey said Rafael and Beto had driven to Guadalajara to pick them up. They arrived in Tepic at 2:30 a.m. RMT (3:30 a.m. CST). The flight went well — except that Rainey was laughing at poor Ben whose pacemaker always sets off the security alarms so that he is rigorously searched, prodded, and poked. I think I will suggest that he grow a beard and mustache and get a big Osama bin Laden tattoo… (During the 70′s and 80′s, I wore a mustache and long beard — and I got pulled aside and searched every time I flew [probably for drugs...])
I am so glad that Rainey was able to go down as our representative. She had never been to a Mexican funeral before, and it was appropriate that her first funeral mass be for her grandfather. She also pointed out to us that she had never walked in a funeral cortege to the cemetery behind a Mercedes hearse before. [If you remember back in the summer, we wrote about seeing a Jaguar hearse there in Tepic.] She said it was a beautiful service, and Lorena did great.
Afterwards, many of the family went to eat at Beto’s (different Beto) restaurant out near Bugam Villas where they stuffed themselves on seafood. Rainey said she knows there were at least 60 family members there, and there may have been more. When we called, they were at home eating dinner now. [Remember that Tepic is only a few miles from the Pacific Coast between Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán.] She said they were having seafood again, and she is stuffed with seafood.
She has been spending all her free time with Mommy, and apparently Mommy is grilling her about everything from her classes to her boyfriend to her career plans to how and what we are doing. Rainey said Lorena wants to talk so badly that her desire is palpable. We had a wonderful (and LONG) conversation with them (including Gaby). I am really glad that Rainey had a chance to go down to be with her. I know that Lorena misses her father desperately, but she is in great spirits because she knows that his suffering is over, and she is comforted by the knowledge that we will be reunited one day.
Rainey is supposed to send us reports on her activities and on Lorena, along with a bunch of pictures. Thank you for your prayers.
Comments (2)
Thank you for the update. I am glad that Lorena is doing well with her fathers death, even though I am sure it is terribly painful. When my father died, I grieved, but it was a grief knowing that I would never have a father who cared about me and loved me, not a grief of loving him and missing him. I am glad that Lorena and your girls have good memories of Papa and will remember him with love. I admire you and Lorena so much for loving your family and your girls so deeply. It is the best gift on the planet to have your children feel loved and protected. That is why you have such exceptional and mature girls…
I hope that all turns out well in regards to where Lorena will be taken care of. You all have been in my constant prayers…
Marlene
FOR ALL YOU LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS)
1. A bicycle can’t stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What’s the definition of a will? (It’s a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it’s your vote that counts; In feudalism, it’s your count that votes.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don’t pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I’ll show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.
15. Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn’t find the key.
17. Every calendar’s days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. ‘Taint yours and ‘taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
24. When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she’d dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.
I know that you love words. I got this off wonderingo4′s site and thought I would share it with you…
Marlene