From the Heartland

On Friday, September 5th, a group of us ventured forth from the Boston area to bury my mother. Jaime was suffering from allergies and sported some "special" eyewear as she was unable to wear her contacts. I sported my favorite travelling neck pillow in the shape of an otter.

The "girls" (Ciel, Jaime and myself) attended a Reds game in the Great American Ball Park with Ben, Victoria and Michael. We must have brought the cellar dweller Reds luck because they soundly beat the Cubs behind some decent pitching by an ex-Red Sox pitcher. The stands were filled with stunned (and inebriated) Cubs fans.

The ceremony was held in beautiful Spring Grove cemetery, a 700+ acre arboretum and burial ground close to downtown Cincinnati, on Saturday, September 6th at 11:00 a.m, with many family and friends attending. Mom was buried in the Greeno plot. The weather was gorgeous and the crickets sang. The release of balloons, with Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes, marked the final goodbye to Mom. Ciel has produced a beautiful memory book which was well received at the ceremony and at the celebration of Mom's life afterward.

Also in honor of Mom, I downloaded a new voice for Le TomTom (now Queen TomTom) - The Queen of England. "One has reached one's destination...." Even JimJim agreed that Queen TomTom was a useful addition for trekking around Cincinnati.

On Sunday, I took Ciel, Jared and Jaime (and JimJim) on a tour of my past lives in Cincinnati, then we attended a brunch celebrating Barbara's 80th birthday! We could not leave Cincinnati without seeing my old favorite Krohn Conservatory - and then to a new landmark in Cincinnati, the Underground Railroad Museum, featuring one of my ancestors, John Rankin. (My mother was named Juliet Rankin Greeno, and her father was John Rankin Greeno.)

We returned home that night - and Bonnie is CONSIDERING forgiving us. Maybe.