A good goodbye

Today we sent Little Old Lady off, in the manner I hope know she wanted.
She'd always been clear, indeed we knew it was in her will, that she didn't hold with religion and wanted as little "fuss" as possible. Well we had a nicely personal remembrance, led by family, and we made exactly the sort of "fuss" that we know she secretly loved. She went to whatever comes next just how she most loved to be, surrounded by family and the sound of laughter. We came together to celebrate her life, and whilst there will always be a few tears on a day such as this, I'll remember more the smiles, the laughter, the sense of the impact she had on others- a fitting reflection of a life lived lovingly.
Family is a continuing adventure for me, as I'm sure it is for most. For the first half of my life I dreaded family gatherings, indeed for the longest time I had little real sense of who my family were, Little Old Lady helped change that, something I'll always be immensely grateful for.
I suspect that our own focus can easily seem to skip a generation, that as we lose our elders we look to the youngsters - our butterfly minds forgetting that they'll always look to us to lead the way. Certainly this afternoon and evening our 'middle' generation greatly enjoyed teasing the grandchildren, all adults now, that they needed to start marrying so we can arrange the next get together - they didn't seem convinced. To think some of us could soon be grandparents ourselves (not me, - there's a b-i-g age spread amongst us!) is incredible - I hope we all can one day leave a legacy of love like the one Mollie gave us.