My Weekend

On Saturday, my parents went to my aunt and uncle's house to meet with them and a couple of my cousins and the pastor to talk about my grandma and go over some details of the funeral. I didn't go. I didn't want to at first, then changed my mind and finally decided not to go. I am a very emotional person and I think it would have hurt me too much. I just decided it was not my method of grieving. My mom said it was good and I would have liked being there. My grandma's funeral is Monday morning. We are having a private burial first and then the funeral for the public. After looking at 60 obituaries in the paper today, there was only 1 person that outlived my grandma. For some reason, that makes things a little better for me. Here is her obituary as printed in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Sunday:

Marion A. Sterner

Sterner, Marion A. Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother Age 95 Passed away peacefully on July 10. Preceded in death by husband, Otis. Survived by sons, Dennis (Pat) & Keith (Sheila); grandchildren, Dana, Jamie (Thomas) Seaberg, Laura (Chris) Urtel, John & Michael; great-grandchild Keith Seaberg & special niece Kristine (Jim) Craft. Memorial Service 11AM Monday at FIRST COVENANT CHURCH, 1280 Arcade St. (Hwy 61), St. Paul. Private Interment. Memorials Preferred. Anderson Funeral Home 651-776-2761

After deciding that I didn't want to do anything this weekend and after my dad encouraging me not to stop life and all the events in it, Michael and I went to 2 parties on Saturday. One was a 50th birthday party for his cousin, Pat, and the other was a party at the home of a married couple and his close high school friends', Dave and Molly. We went to the first party with our motorcycle gang. Michael's brother, Ray, cousin Johnny, and cousins Jim and Lorrie all met at our house and we rode down on our bikes to Cottage Grove together. We ate good food and played games. We rode back to St. Paul for the other party. Michael got to interact and see friends that he hasn't seen for a long time and I got to meet a lot of people that Michael has told me about but have never met before.

On Sunday, we spent about 5 hours on the bike. We rode all around the cities including cruising around Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, Cedar Lake and around Theo Wirth Parkway. We stopped at the Rose Garden, Peace Garden and Roberts Bird Sanctuary. While at the Peace Garden, I made it a point to think of good thoughts about my grandma and knowing she is now resting in peace. We finally ended our day laying on the grass at the U of M East Bank campus. The grass just looked nice and it was a beautiful day so we took a break from the bike and just laid there. At 5 pm, I went over to my parents house for dinner and to look at pictures of my grandma. Finally, Michael and I ended the night by going to see the movie, Hancock. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.