Life in Cayuga

 That was the tag line from radio ads for a local funeral home back in the 1960’s!  I’ve posted a lot about funerals, and death, but I have some fairly humorous stories about funerals.  Here’s one.  At least I think it’s funny! My friend Bob always said he was going to have business cards printed for me that read “Professional Pallbearer”!  I don’t know how or why, but I somehow became the “go-to” pallbearer in town if there was a need.  Once I tried to count how many times I served, but lost count at 34. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, people from church, even some I didn’t know!   But one time I had to be pallbearer, grave digger, and undertaker all in one!  My great aunt Doris died around Christmas of 2012. She lived in Kansas City near her daughter.  She was a lovely lady and I thought a lot of her.  She had requested to be cremated and her daughter decided to wait until spring to bring her ashes to Utica be buried bes...

 I’m back from the Orange Bowl!  Another fun trip and several bucket list items crossed off!  The game didn’t turn out like we’d hoped, but the overall experience made up for it.   Hard Rock Stadium is a beautiful facility, with first class amenities.  We were sitting in the “nose bleed” seats, and there was an escalator from the ground to that level!  It was the longest escalator I’ve ever seen!  We encountered so many Red Raider fans and enjoyed talking with them.  There were a lot more Oregon fans there than I expected, with the game being all the way across the country from them.  The Oregon people we talked to were very friendly and nice too.  The day before the game, we went sightseeing around Ft. Lauderdale.  We found the prettiest little park with access to the beach.  There were even chairs under some shade trees where you could sit and watch the ocean.  We could have stayed there for hours, but we had dinner rese...

 As I’ve aged, I’ve found that I’m getting more and more “Scroogey” about Christmas.  It’s too much. Too much expense, too much to do, too much worry about getting the perfect gift, the perfect meal.  For some reason, this year has been worse than usual.  But I have found a bright spot.  Something that gives me hope that things might be better.  And it came from, of all places, a group of Buddhist monks.   These monks are Walking For Peace.  Walking from Ft. Worth, TX, to Washington, DC.  They are stopping along the way, meeting people and spreading a message of peace.  They came through here last week.  I saw them on the road and have become fascinated with them and their journey.  They are taking a route through the Deep South, places where I thought they would encounter bigotry or racism. That’s not the case at all. Everywhere they go, crowds of people are there to greet them, provide them with food and shelter, and spreadin...

 I’ve told you about my trip to Chicago to see the Cubs .  Well, we’re hitting the road again to go to Miami to the Orange Bowl .   Texas Tech will play the winner of Oregon and James Madison in the second round of the playoffs.   Susan is a proud (and loud) graduate of Texas Tech.  Other than her children and grandchildren, Tech is the thing she’s most passionate about. She has an extensive collection of Tech swag! She lived in Lubbock for several years as a teen and young adult, after her father retired from the Army. Her family is from the area, her father graduated from Tech, and her children were born there.  So, there are ties, and although she was an “army brat” and moved a lot, Lubbock is home to her.   She’s made a Red Raider fan out of me too!  I started watching them because she was a fan but I’ve gotten to be a fan myself.  They have a really good team.  A high powered offense and a dominant defense.   We’re going...

 I went to the dermatologist today.  Because I’ve had previous skin cancers, I have to go every 6 months to get a full body skin check.  Today they found another suspicious spot on my face and took a biopsy.  I’ll get the results next week.  Even though it’s a tiny spot, easily treatable, and easy outpatient surgery if it’s positive, it’s still pretty gut-wrenching to get the call saying you have cancer.  I’ve gotten 3 of those calls and I hope I don’t get number 4.  I’ve had 3 skin cancer surgeries, all on my face. The last one was less than a month ago. If this comes back positive, it’ll be number 4.  I asked why they all seem to be on my face and she said that it gets the most sun exposure of any part of your body. Since I grew up on a farm and worked outdoors as a farmer in my younger days, along with thousands of miles in trucks with my arm propped on the window, I’ve had more than my share of sun. The surgeries I’ve had were called Moh’s sur...

 Back in February, I told you about my friend Robert’s suicide.  Until now, his wife has been unable, mentally and emotionally, to have a memorial service. But she rallied and the service was today.  I was asked to give the eulogy.  A few years ago, Robert called me and asked if I would cover for him at the funeral of a friend.  He was to deliver the eulogy and had a last minute emergency and couldn’t do it so he asked me to read what he had written. I did. The theme of his eulogy was “A Perfect, Devoted Friend”.  I used a variation on that theme today. I told how we had been friends since we were 3 years old, how we started school together and went through 12th grade together. I told of some of our “adventures” as teenagers, (at least the ones I could talk about in church!)  and how we bonded even more after the deaths of our friends Reuben and Tim. How even though he was halfway around the world, he never forgot his old friend. I said I hope he knew ...