Mom's farewell

Unbelievably for the Oregon coast, there was sunshine all day.  It even got so warm that DH was walking around in a t-shirt.  We got all 14 of the participants gathered at the dock, and after a bit of a wait while the crew hosed down the ship after the morning fishing trip, we embarked.  My niece, who had organized the whole weekend, had leis for all of us, and my nephew's wife had roses and calla lillies.  Everyone who was prone to seasickness had taken their dramamine, and so we set out.  Astonishingly, it was fairly smooth untill we crossed the bar where we encountered 20 ft swells.  In a 16 ft boat with a canny captain, it was like riding a rollercoaster, and the teenagers were whooping with glee!  When we got out to the selected spot, my niece opened the cooler and brought out the Crown Royal and Coke - Mom's favorite beverage.  All the adults got a tiny cupfull.  The kids got apple juice.  My oldest nephew read a wonderful farewell he had written, then I got to scatter the ashes. We played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  I had saved a dash of Crown and Coke and poured it in with her, then we scattered her last remains in the place she had always been the happiest.  The white ashes (which are more like sand) hung in the water.  I had expected them to sink right away.  We threw our flowers and leis, and as we motored away, they were rocking gently in the sunshine.  I had been prepared for wind and rain, a churning chop and bone-chilling cold.  It was as if the elements had combined to welcome her. 

Upon our return we gathered for a sandwich buffet and reminiscing.  I tried to get Mom's brother to tell us about her youth, but she was 8 years older than he, and she married Dad when she was only 15, so he couldn't come up with much.  But it was good to be together with the family, and we shared lots of the old stories and no one was mournful.  I could wish for such a ceremony.  Mom had outlived most of her friends and peers.  You don't get a lot of people telling stories about the youthful exploits of a 97-year-old woman.  But I bet she had a few.