Life goes on ...

... and sometimes, not even.

That was my little joke to keep this week from being too gloomy. I attended the funeral for my grandmother on Monday. It was a sombre affair, but allowed me to get back in touch with relatives from my father's side of the family. My grandmother was 89, so she ended up living quite a lot longer than I expect to. She was the last surviving grandparent of mine, and she will be missed dearly. She was cool.

She died six hours after I last saw her in the long-term care facility in Rockwood.

I did get to catch up on some juicy family gossip as well, although I didn't go looking for any. Strange, isn't it, how this stuff starts making its way around. Everyone is all happy to see you, giving you compliments ... then they turn around and tell the next person all about you: your current and past relationships; your medical/financial situation; how you're dressing these days; etc. Naturally, I didn't get to hear the gossip about me, but I bet it was something fascinating.

I also got several invitations from family members across Canada. If I'm ever in Alberta or B.C., I'll have several places to stay.

I was able to make contact with my cousin, who's currently writing a book. She's got some good contacts in the literary world, and I thought I might be able to get an opening for an illustrator friend of mine. She thinks I'm cool, so we're even.