My butt is dragging.

Yesterday was a long, long day. Remind me next time to take my own vehicle.

Pat, Memama, and Pepa picked me up yesterday morning, a little after eight. We were supposed to be at the funeral home in Brownwood by 10:00, and we would go from there to the cemetery.

I have to say, this was one of the most laid back funerals I have ever attended. The 10:30 slid to 11:00, they took Uncle Jesse to the cemetery before everyone had arrived at the funeral home. In fact, there were a few people who got there after his body had been transported, that missed their opportunity to say goodbye.

When the procession arrived at the cemetery, it was greeted by a large contingency of family and friends who skipped going to the funeral home and went directly to the burial service.

The service was simple, having congregational singing, the reading of one scripture, and closed with a prayer.

We returned to the family life center for a noon meal, a ministry of the women of the Austin Avenue Church, before having the memorial service at 1:30.

The memorial service was nice. There were songs from CD's, the reading of the obituary by a friend, a prayer by a nephew, a brief remembrance by a grandson, some words from the heart by the youngest son, and a final memorial by the oldest son, before closing with a conregational singing of The Lord Bless and Keep you.

Robbie and her family are doing well. Robbie had written the sweetest little note to Uncle Jesse to be put in his inside coat pocket, but one of the twins who is studying to be a mortician arrived in time to help get Jesse ready for the family to view his body and she thought differently and pinned the note to the lapel of his jacket.

You know there are going to be some adjustments for all of the family.

After the service, thumbprint cookies along with coffee, iced tea and lemonade were served to all who attended the service.

Krl had decided not to go to the funeral. She had a truck that she didn't have covered with a load, and we discussed it, when she said, "Uncle Jesse would tell me to tend to business".

I had placed my phone on silent and vibrate, but during the burial service I felt the phone vibrate. After the service was concluded, I walked away and looked at my phone, a truck driver had called, even though he had been instructed not to. I called him back and he was in Laredo and having a problem with his truck.

I don't know if any of you know the helpless feeling of having equipment three or four hundred miles away, having a problem when you are not in a position to deal with it.

The memorial was over about 2:30, and mentally I planned a schedule that would get me home between four and four-thirty. That didn't happen. It was probably after four when we began to try to get loaded up. Then Pepa insisted we go by the lake to see Coach and Jani.

For the life of me, I can't understand this. We had just left the church where we had left Coach and his family.

Long story short, I got home shortly after seven in the evening.

So today, I am trying to pick up the pieces of my yesterday.

I hate days like today.

I will never catch up to it.

FATHER, I need a lot of help here.