Rest

So I've not downloaded the pics from the other camera forever- so finally you might get some more posts since I had time to do it today. On 4th of July weekend, Molly and I took my dad's ashes up to Albany to finally bury him. We were surprised to find that his stone had already been placed because they told me it would be alot longer.

This first picture is a pic of the stone of my great aunt and uncle of whom Sullivan was named after. These were two of the best people I have ever known. Had we had a girl, her middle name would have been Maxine, but since we had a boy, Sullivan can honor them both. The last few years of their lives Maxine declined a lot, and by the time they both passed, they were in different nursing facilities. My grandma didn't even tell Maxine that Skeeter had passed (she had really bad Alzheimers), but look at the dates they passed! She must have known.

I thought this picture was kinda funny. We just put the ashes in the hole and that was it!
This is a picture of where he is. The stone next to his is my grandma and grandpa's. It's really nice and peaceful out there.
I thought his stone turned out really nice. I think it was nice for my grandma to have some closure over the whole thing, and also to have him back in Albany so she can visit.
I was discussing my dad with a friend of mine the other day and she surprised me in saying she had never heard me say anything positive about my dad before. I suppose that's probably true...he put us through a lot of hell in the last few years, but I DO know that my dad was a good person. He was really my favorite growing up (sorry mom)....probably because he was NOT a disciplinarian, but nevertheless... My dad was personable, funny, fun to be around, caring, loving, and a really all around great man. He was very smart. The sad part about it, is that he allowed alcohol to ruin his life and his family. He really is a good lesson to anyone struggling with alcohol abuse. I do at times really miss him and wish he was around to take my boys fishing, go to the lake with us, cook us hamburgers, and other things that I'll never have. But I also realize that had he not died, those things still could never be. Alcohol destroyed him- destroyed the man he was. He was never going to get better. Even if by some miracle he were to get sober, I never would have trusted him with my children and I probably never would have truly enjoyed his company again. So even though his memory is filled with a lot of sadness, I have to remember that in the last 3-4 months of his life, I got to get a glimpse of who he had been and remember that I DO love him and I DO miss him. He is finally resting.