Had to deal with TSA and traffic both outside and inside airports, but it was something that just had to be done.

Even though Kevin and the ex have had a bitter divorce, they managed to be civil to each other and make all arrangements without getting into a fight (although several times she openly accused him of causing the accident - I guess saying stupid shit out loud was part of her grieving process). Of course, she still dug the knife in by demanding to take home most of the live plants that were sent to each service.

They had a wake Thursday out where he lived with his mom in the NW corner of the state. I guess the funeral home knew that it wouldn't be able to accommodate the expected number of people so they arranged to have the service at the local high school gym. Kyle said that he guess around 300 people showed up out there, which is pretty damn good for such a small town.

Friday we had a wake for our side of the family near Chicago. Lots of mom's friends from church came out (she's been involved with Council of Catholic Women, a service organization, ever since we moved to that parish in 1966) and even some of her monthly poker night friends came out. Most of the neighbors still around since we moved there came - good thing mom introduced them to me cause I wouldn't have been able to pick most of their names out of a lineup of 2.

Kevin has owned a motorcycle for years and got into a riding club several years ago. A couple of them showed up mid afternoon; half an hour later around 5 came in, and then around 6:30 pm 30 of them showed up en masse. Kyle was pissed because they all were dressed as if they were going on a ride, but I told him, "They're here to support your dad; don't get bent because of how they're dressed, be glad they're here to support him."

Turns out that the club membership is mainly ex-law enforcement people: former local cops and county sheriffs; state troopers; and a few are ex-FBI and ex-DEA. All of that helped because for the funeral procession Saturday morning they called in a few favors and got us a 3 car police escort - 1 to lead and 2 to block off intersections while we rolled through. My father-in-law talked briefly to one of them after we arrived at the cemetery and was told by the cop, "Based upon the number of cars I counted, I'd guess that the procession was between 3/4 and 1 mile long." One squad car led it, followed by either 9 or 11 pairs of riders from my brother's cycle club (I wasn't focused on getting an exact count), then the hearse. Two cars were next containing Kevin and the ex, then I followed with my mom, and then about 45 cars of family and friends came behind us ... and the school bus.

A school bus. Can you believe it? Friends of Cullen's got the school to let them use a bus so that they could come to the wake Friday and the funeral on Saturday, a 6 hour round trip. Saturday's high was 90, so they rode 6 hours in an uncomfortable bus with no air conditioning. That's really saying something, isn't it?


brief news story: http://www.wifr.com/...es/151345435.html

obituary: http://www.legacy.co...7652184&fhid=6268

one friend's tribute: http://www.youtube.c...tch?v=MpkdY35rEzE