Today is a sad day. Today is the day of my wife’s grandma’s funeral. A day for saying goodbye.
The funeral is in Bramley in Hampshire, almost 200 miles away from where we are in Norfolk. The service is at 11am, so we are up and out of bed at 4.30am, and on the road by 5am – picking up my wife’s eldest son and his fiancee on the way. At first the roads are clear and we make good progress, but by the time we are on the outskirts of London then rush hour has well and truly begun, and we are in really heavy slow traffic.
We had thought that by leaving home at 5am we would be a couple of hours early on arrival at the church, but the heavy traffic meant that we were there just 30 minutes before the appointed time. We travelled in my wife’s car today, which is a manual (stick shift), doesn’t have cruise control and is much more of a challenge for me to drive smoothly. Fortunately my tremor is under control today, and what little there is is in my left leg, so that means that I can share the driving with my wife.
We drove most of the way to Hampshire through the rain, but the sun was shining by the time we arrived. The service went smoothly, the tributes were warm and heartfelt, and I think we all felt emotionally drained by the time it was all over. The wake was held in a local pub, where we ate from a lovely buffet, and spent a couple of hours chatting and reminiscing with friends and family members. And then it was time to return to to Norfolk, breaking the journey at Stevenage to drop in on my daughter for a swift cup of tea / coffee. We arrive home at 10pm, both of us feeling completely exhausted.