Eventful...

First off, thanks to all my friends on Twitter/Facebook for their thoughts and words. They were deeply appreciated.

And now, some thoughts and suggestions.

Please consider some sort of pre-planning when it comes to your arrangements. I don't know whether or not it will save you any money, but I know that we spent maybe an hour at most at the funeral home, and that was spent mainly making sure everyone's name was spelled right and we had the right picture for the obituary. My grandmother has been holding up great, all things considered, and not having to make these kinds of decisions really helps. Nothing against those who work in funeral parlors, but to me it's a bit distasteful when, at one of the most trying points in your life, you wind up in a used car lot. P.S do not agree to the undercoating. [bad joke, I know]

Also, Take a few minutes to tell the people you love that you actually DO love them. Yes, it's cliche`. But it doesn't make it any less true. We did get a chance to say goodbye on Monday night, and I'll always be grateful for at least that.

The funeral is this Friday, and I volunteered to be a pallbearer. So far I've done a good job of holding it together, but I don't know how long that's going to last. We're expecting a lot of people, but for me, I've already said goodbye.

We'll see you soon, Grandpa.