A lot of catching up to do

It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegan, but not here at Lake Szumko.

First, the fun stuff. This evening I took the boys to see the Michigan Marching Band play. They practice on Friday nights before home games and there's usually a crowd (with lots of kids!) to watch.

We got there a little late, so we didn't see much. We had to go console ourselves on ice cream at Washtenaw Dairy instead. As usual, it was wonderful and left me wanting more!

I wonder what my grandma would have thought of the ice cream at Washtenaw Dairy. She's been on my mind recently--she passed away last week and we attended her funeral earlier this week. She was a big fan of ice cream---even in these last months and years my parents would visit her most Fridays and bring her ice cream.

So it has been a time of reflection... of thinking not only about her life and the impact that she has had across her ten children, 24 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, but of living the life we have as fully as possible.

One of the most memorable parts of the funeral was the eulogy, delivered by my Uncle Dick and my Uncle Paul. Uncle Dick is the oldest... nine kids later the youngest, Uncle Paul, was born. They remembered the amazing things (raising and enjoying all those kids) and the funny things (making 4-6 sandwiches while supervising breakfast and getting kids to school). (on the topic of sandwiches---I remember hearing once that she kept a spread-sheet in the kitchen to remember everyone's likes and dislikes!)

Maybe I can get a copy of the eulogy and post it here... it will do more justice than my recollection of it. (note: during the middle of it, I had carried Jameson to the back of the church since he didn't want to behave in the pew, but instead he decided it would be more fun to RUN down the middle aisle... sigh)

Even more amazing... her husband unexpectedly died at age 48, leaving her with 6 kids at home, 3 in college and 1 in law school. Honestly, she's one of those people I think about when I think I am busy or stressed or overwhelmed with TWO kids. She was known for her patience and for taking anything that came at her with grace.

While it was a sad occasion, it was still wonderful to see so many family members. From my cousin Faith about ready to give birth (Arthur James, great-grandchild #22, arrived on Thursday) to all of my aunts and uncles to the Tucker kids, who are all so amazing I have to wonder what their parent's parenting secret is! Oh, and my favorite cousin Sarah and her baby Lilly. Sarah and I grew up across town from each other and spent many nights having "sleepovers". Lilly is only a few months older than Jameson---and I feel confident that they will be good buddies!

Family portraits, compliments of Uncle Dick. Vote for your favorite!

Typical Szumko car trip... Jameson finds amusement in the strangest things (in this case, a toothbrush!) while the rest of us are checking out the hot air balloon (barely visible behind J-Mo).

In the midst of all of this, we also hosted a bunch of alumni at our house for the fourth annual ROTC-alumni tail-gate party AND Stefan and Alex had big roles in our neighborhood play during the block party. (my brother Pat commented, you can tell you live in Ann Arbor---a college town---because you have plays during your block parties. We just drink beer and hang out at ours.)

Stefan was the "gruffalo" and Alex was with a group of three little boys who held up signs during descriptions of the "gruffalo". (maybe next year they will graduate to speaking parts!) I was very impressed at my neighbor Elizabeth for taking this all on---and designing Stefan's costume! Of course, maybe the custome designed was partially motivated by the relief that an adult was actually willing to be the Gruffalo!