Last Sunday I left Nashville for Sunset Beach, NC and spent 4 wonderful days with the two women I traveled to Krakow and Provence with. I flew back to Nashville Thursday and to Des Moines on Friday for my brother’s funeral service on Saturday and wonderful family time. Today I am flying back to Nashville.
The water temperature in NC was worrying – walking into the water was like barely different from body temperature. Very strange feeling. The first 3 days were brutally hot but the Wednesday and Thursday were much better and we had nice bike rides along the beaches. There was plenty of good food, consignment store shopping, a jigsaw puzzle and many conversations. Easy days with good friends.
My flight was delayed on the way to Des Moines so I had time to have a beer and toast to Terry. His service was perfect for Terry. My brother touched the lives of many and will be remembered as a perfect who spoke his mind; was a gifted athlete of many sports including pool; used Fuck as a noun, adjective and verb; worked hard and loved his family.
Having young kids at the gathering after the funeral is a lovely reminder of the circle of life. These 2 spent a long time negotiating over the cooler of water bottles.
In my nuclear family, I am now the oldest. My younger brother came up to me and told me to stay healthy because he didn’t want to have to go through this again for many years. Fortunately I feel like I am in better health now than I was a decade ago and am planning to stay as physically and mentally active as possible in retirement. Craig will be a great partner in this shared goal.
The weekend ended with what has become a fun tradition with my college friend Deb who has become my home away from home in Iowa. We discovered a wonderful Mexican place not far from her that has a fabulous spicy margarita and shrimp and crab nachos. This was our 3rd yearly visit to the restaurant. We toasted to Terry and plan on keeping up our tradition until we are at least 90.
Tamara Unleashed 