Late last week, Rob and I headed east to the DC area for my Uncle Jon's funeral. It was a very emotional couple days, but the funeral service was very touching and I was grateful to be there. My uncle's two kids -- Anne (age 30), Mike (age 29) -- both spoke, as did my Uncle Jim. All of their words were incredibly moving. Anne's remarks really struck a chord because she spoke about being her father's daughter, about her father being a great writer and lover of words. Then she read such a moving tribute that she had written about her dad and you could really hear my uncle in her words.

My Uncle Jim told the story of the 24 hours before he was shipped out to Vietnam. My Uncle Jon and Uncle Jim were stationed at the same base in the U.S. in my Uncle Jim's last couple weeks before heading overseas. Uncle Jim said that Uncle Jon came to sit with him in the airplane hangar for the final hours before the big departure, but that those hours stretched into the next day as they waited for a fog to lift. Uncle Jim said they just sat silently together until finally it was time to go and Uncle Jon just stood up and smiled at him. My Uncle Jon was always smiling, so the story struck a real chord. You could just picture the moment and understand exactly what it meant to my Uncle Jim.

It was also very nice to see my Uncle Jon's friends show up in droves at the service. I know my cousins in particular were grateful for that. All in all, it was very good to be around family for a couple days. It was calming, although still a bit draining emotionally, and I think all of us there were given a renewed sense of appreciation for family. That is certainly a silver lining of sorts.

I made it back to work on Friday morning for our early morning meeting before the judge's sitting, on about two hours sleep after finishing my final bench memo for the day's arguments at 4am. Needless to say, my emotions were a bit raw from the lack of sleep, so I didn't make it a full day. Luckily, everyone in my office was very sympathetic and kindof just let me be for the day.

This past weekend, on a much happier note, Rob's sister Gena came to visit us. So I'll post some pictures of our weekend in the next day or so. We had a wonderful visit and it couldn't have come at a better time. Just when I needed a weekend to relax and enjoy the moment I got one.