The Aerie

Silver linings

I'm off to Cape Cod tomorrow for my birthfather's funeral. This is too many funerals in too short a time - attending funerals is not something I want to get "good at."

I remember when I was in my 20's, and half the weekends of summer seemed to be occupied with attending the weddings of friends and cousins. Is this to be replaced with funerals as I age? What a prospect.

I'm nervous about attending the funeral. I'm hoping I pass largely un-noticed by the extended family. I look enough like Ralph that I am worried that people might look at me, do a doubletake, and then ask who I am. But maybe I flatter myself, or maybe I'm projecting. One thing I always enjoyed about visiting with Ralph was to talk to a person who looked just like me. I think non-adoptees don't know how wild that is.

Making the last-minute reservations was an interesting experience. Started with ol' reliable Priceline, got some stinky prices like $720 (I could get $233 if I flew in on Friday night and flew out on Saturday morning - now, exactly what is the point of that unless you're delivering kidneys to Tokyo?)

So then I started hitting the individual airline sites, seeing slightly better rates.

Finally, well what do you know, an Expedia commercial comes on the TV behind me. So I go to Expedia and get the near-perfect intinerary for $350. But it was only near-perfect, so I sprang for an extra $200 to leave later on Sunday so that I don't have to rush.

Then renting the car, well, I sprang for that as well, dropping an extra $100 to get a convertible for three days instead of an economy car. Hey, this is going to be a hard enough trip without driving 90 minutes each way to the Cape in a tin can.

So I fly out Friday morning, nonstop, and fly in Sunday evening, with a brief layover in Washington D.C. And in between, I get to see my half-siblings, my extended paternal birthfamily, and drive around a convertible.

Trying not to feel guilty about lining the sad clouds with a little silver.

Posted by Albatross at August 12, 2004 1:23 AM