Private Funeral Service

This past few days have been interesting...Pete had to be out of town (Omaha) for a gig, leaving last Thursday. After dropping him at the airport, went to the post office to buy 1000 stamps for the thank you cards. That is soo unbeleivable, yet. From there went to my counseling appointment. Verdict for that day: Doing well, processing appropriately. So appropriate that I stayed up until 3:00 AM watching old videos...
Friday, Hayden here, Katie and kids later in afternoon. She and I are both furious about a $50 parking ticket the Chicago Police Department issued at 8:53 AM on Thursday March 3, 2005 to Laurie's Jeep. Seems that somehow, between the ticket and towing her Jeep, Thursday morning someone should have realized this was the very same Jeep that every newscast and police department in the state was looking for. As it was it the Jeep was not found until Friday night. We are also upset by a letter from a relative...too personal to go into here.
Eve, sweet Eve, stayed over here Friday night and helped me with my dreaded twice yearly switching of the winter sweaters and summer clothes. We laughed and got it done in record time. Thanks, Eve. I am taking you up on the offer of always doing this together.
Saturday, some really good support from family and friends. More about that in a later blog. Stayed up again until 2:00 AM.
Sunday, church with the family and breakfast out after. Bill Hybels sermon about economic and racial injustice stirs me. I have been to South Africa two years ago with a Willow short term mission team and intend to go again. Start thinking about donating some of Laurie's clothes to the Gifts in Kind collection. I truly think she would think that is a cool idea. I can not shake the idea that I need to go to Lake Michigan by myself. With Katie and Kristin at the house, I tell them I need to do some errands and leave the house. It was not really a lie, I need to do an errand of the soul.

I travel downtown, find the location where the Jeep was towed from and then drive on to the planetarium and park, realizing she walked a long way...It seems much colder than the day we were here six weeks ago. I walk toward the spot and for the first time see an arrangement of large stones, almost like headstones called the The American Courtyard up above the spot. I chat with an African American couple, mostly about the huge expense of this display. Don't say anything, else. Go down by the water and the place where her things were found. Fow whatever reason I had brought the little tape recorder Pete had gotten me and I start talking...I realize now what I was doing. I held my very private funeral service for Laurie.