My trip back home was a nice chance to take a break and get back to my roots. It was funny because there was a moment when I realized that since I've lived here for seven years, I don't belong out here and I don't belong in Boston either. Somehow I am caught in limbo. However, I still appreciate a good cup of Dunkin Donuts. Walking in the city and discovering it's beauty was amazing. I love being able to search out new things and find my way around by my internal nav system.
In fact, I had a chance to use this pioneer talent with CC when we met up in Baltimore. That's right. I took a train from CT to MD and back again. I just had to see Ms. Sparklepants. Together we roamed around the Harbor, the Fish Market, and got to see some really cool old churches. I highly, highly doubt that the oldest Cathedral in the US is in Baltimore but we went to it anyway. We also saw the public library, which was random. It was cool because they had so many public programs and offerings and obviously gets tons of use. It also had a cool mix of older architecture and modern architecture that was pretty interesting.
I made it back to CT just in time for Mimi's goodbye service. Let it be known that this was no normal funeral. We had gospel singers and bagpipes. They put the fun in funeral. Not only did we have these musical groups but during the planning stages for the service, it was planned that I would sing two songs--one I volunteered, "The Irish Blessing," and one I was roped into "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Basically, I ordered the "Irish Blessing" music online but it never came on time and I never had "Over the Rainbow" sheet music to practice. Luckily, I remembered just enough from middle and high school choir renditions of these songs to put together a cheat sheet of lyrics for myself. Nice. Let's just say that when I practiced outside the church prior to the start next to the boozy ancient Irish bagpiper (yeah...I said it), Jordan commented, "You might want to practice more. Is that how you're gonna do it?" Thanks, Jordo. Apparently my vocal stylings were not up to par. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to totally embarrassing myself and/or wrecking the funeral. Then something amazing happened. When my turn came to participate in the service, notes and rhythms of a new song floated out of my mouth with the lyrics of "The Irish Blessing," which has never happened to me before. I am so thankful that it worked out.
Afterwards, I had an opportunity to spend some quality time with my extended family. The D'Angonas and Godfreys, friends, and other extended family (Kownackis and Loomis/Halles) all got together to share stories and catch up on what has happened in the last few years. The last time I went home I was a bridesmaid for Christina's wedding, which is hard to believe. A lot has changed in two years. It was nice to have the opportunity to see relatives that I may not see again for a while. We took a bunch of pictures while everyone together. Enjoy!
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