It was a Memorial to Remember...

for a man we will never forget.  After months of planning and preparation, arrivals of nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles, children from coast to coast, and so many friends that it was overwhelming - we lay Mark brother to rest in Lompoc this past Friday.
It was a beautiful day, the weather cooperated to the best it could - and there must have been 130+ people here to enjoy the food and drink, friendships and stories and laughter.  Mark would have been proud, he would have been tickled to see people gathered together, talking about old times, planning on having new times together and just plain enjoying one another.

I will miss him always.  I am so happy and proud of the things he has taught me, and also for the lessons he continues to teach me about myself and our families, even now that he is gone.  But, he would have loved the way we celebrated him - friends and family, food and golf - it could not have gone better.

Appropriately during the day many people left to watch nephew Dalton play in the quarter final CIF baseball game held in town on that day as well. It was so great to be able to have the game in town, have relatives that had not seen him play were able to watch what may have been his final high school baseball game.   After an unbelievable try for a fly ball that was missed on young Daltons part that cost the team two runs, one of them being the go ahead run,  there must have been someone watching out for him as he then stepped up to bat in the bottom of the 7th with two outs and drove in the winning go ahead run to win the game 3-2.  Chaos, and all the while I KNOW Mark was watching - it was a grand day!  As Mark would say "and the crowd went wild!"

Now it is on to life as we have grown to know it.  Elizabeth will stay the week and I will watch her belly grown with my new grandniece in it - Nate will continue his stay through graduation day, continuing to make his stay something I will cherish forever.  Vic has returned to Johns Hopkins and the job she adores, and our new found Ashley - Nates girl, will start her new job tomorrow in Oregon where she and Nate will set up house and begin anew.  I really like her and hope that she continues to be good for Nate and they share continued happiness.  Marks friends enjoyed their time together with our family, hit the small white ball around in the wind during their stay - and we drank more wine that maybe we should have.  One thing I know for sure - we will "Just keep playing" at the game of life that Mark loved.  We will do it for Mark, and maybe more importantly, we will do it for ourselves because it is what he would want.

Cheers Mark Brother - I love you!