Morris Reynolds

Wow, what a weekend.

So, if you didn't know, Kari's grandpa, Morris Reynolds, died last Tuesday from a combination of old age and liver cancer. Whoa, right? Just jump right into it, Derek! Well, that's kind of the way it worked in real life. It just sort of snuck up on everyone... I mean, he was driving 2 weeks ago... sorta bumper cars style, but he was still driving.

That said, this weekend was full of Reynolds family time and funeral activity. As with any death, it's never a pleasant experience. The visitation is always awkward, lots of hugs with people you don't know, etc. I was pretty ok through the entire thing, but Saturday at the funeral is when it really got me. We went to breakfast at Morris's favorite breakfast spot, Midtown Cafe. Then we headed to the service and burial. The service was nice - lots of typical Morris stories, but the burial was insane.

Morris is a war vet (lifetime member of the vfw!), so they had all of the war vet stuff going on, flag over the casket, guards holding flags, a couple guards by the grave, a man in the far back with a bugle, and a row of about 6 more guards with rifles. It was a pretty honorable ordeal. So the pastor gave a quick speech/sermon, then the 2 guards by the casket performed this ritual in almost robot fashion - you know, those perfect, slow, military movements. They removed the flag from the casket, folded it into the triangle, saluted it, and presented it to Jeff. It was amazing. I nearly cried as the guards presented it to Jeff with this little speech and salute. Then of course it was followed by a single bugle playing "taps" and a series of 3 gunshots by the riflemen. It was the most gut wrenching, awesome thing ever. I hate to say it this way, but it was the neatest funeral I had ever gone to.

Afterwards we had a reception at the Legion, another one of Morris's favorite spots. He went almost every day to have 2 of his favorite drink, the presbyterian. The legion version was Black Velvet, water, and Sprite with a slice of lemon. A few of us had that drink along with lunch then headed back to Sherry's.

As with any funeral/death, it was a long weekend. It's going to be weird to see how holidays work from here on out in their family.

So, despite all of that, I also managed to get to the Iowa Speedway and get quite a bit of work done on the bar.