Family Time - Tears and Smiles, too

We have had an emotionally charged weekend, lightened somewhat by the presence of our two grandsons. There is something about a baby that makes you feel hopeful about the future and just makes you smile, even through tears. And there was no shortage of babies at the gathering in Grandpa Bacon's honor yesterday, either. Besides Hailey and Connor, Sam, Thomas and Wyatt, there was Reuben (Clark and SaraJane's grandson) and Stacey Bacon Myers' two little girls. Five of those were babes-in-arms, and most of them made the rounds with relatives. There was a wonderful turn out of friends and relatives, some of whom we hadn't seen in quite some time. There was more than one comment of "why do we only do this at weddings and funerals???" And promises to do something about that. We'll see....
Every day this week I have had to remind myself at least three times what day of the week it is. Time seems to stop during times like this. Our family had to return to their homes and lives, so it is once more just the two of us. The last of them (Josh's family) headed out about 7:00 this morning, stopping by the barn for a last good-bye before hitting the road. Sally and Scott, along with Sam and Hunter, headed out after supper last night and had good traveling. Mara and Mike, along with their two dogs, Linus and Lucy, hit the road soon after the funeral yesterday. Unfortunately, they had some bad roads to deal with and finally decided to crash at Josh and Debora's house in Ottumwa after about 8 hours of driving frustration. We haven't heard from them, but hopefully the last leg of their trip home was uneventful. Mara had classes today and Mike had work.
The house is quiet, but there are echoes of Sam's baby laughter and Thomas' grunts and coos. And I can still feel the warmth of all the good-bye hugs....