Whew!

I'm home. What a weekend.

I still feel a little sick. I spent most of today in bed. This trip was harder than I thought it would be. I want to thank all my wonderful friends for taking such good care of me. I know it was an expression of their love for both Jim and me.

The party was amazing. And awful in some ways. Seeing all the music stuff being set up and seeing all our friends arrive was like losing Jim all over again. These are the people he loved to play with. Everyone had almost the same things to say about him. That he was generous on stage, that he made others sound good. There was no one like him. He was one hell of a musician and a dear, dear friend. Several times I had to leave the party and go into the bathroom to sob. I was kind of a wreck all day.

But it really was wonderful. Ed was the go-to guy for sound and set-up. He really made it happen. Plus, he's just plain fun to be around. Michael and Terri brought their new next door neighbor, Larry The O, who played drums all day. Jim knew of Larry and would have loved meeting him. Ernie Fosselius brought his Mechalodeon which was a HUGE hit. People played with it all day. Ernie played guitar as well. Bob and John on guitars, Dave on bass, Amelia on bass, Michele and Barry singing, Ed on keyboards, Michael on conga, Donita singing and playing uke, Mary singing and playing a shaker. Dan brought his pretty guitar and an electric violin. Did I leave anyone out?

Michael, thank you for Across The Universe. It was perfect.

Mark Mayer and his family came. I felt bad because I know he was disappointed that Lindsay and Paige weren't there. It was good to see him. Brian brought me a framed photo of Jim that I had never seen. It's a good picture of him. Thank you, Brian! Ray and his wife were there. Jim loved working with Ray. Jeanne was there for a little while. I'm glad she didn't miss it. Jon and Mary. I could hang out with them forever. Ok, help me here. I don't want to miss anyone.

Dave, Nancy and Amelia, thank you for all your hard work and your loving support. That was really quite a day, wasn't it? There was much sadness but also so much love and joy. Thank you, Michele. Thank you, Dan.

The next morning we went to breakfast at Sam's. Then Michele drove me to Lorraine's. She hasn't been feeling well lately so she missed the party. We sat on her deck with Danny, Eric and Jeanne and drank wine and talked and laughed. It really helped me to blow off some of the heaviness of the day before. On Monday Lorraine had to work so I spent the day with Jeanne and Mary. We had lunch at Washoe House. Then Lorraine came home and took me to the airport. The flight home was uneventful but I felt queasy and yucky the whole time, especially at the end when we hit some turbulence. Good thing it was a short flight.

It was really a wonderful weekend but it's brought up a fresh, new wave of grief. I had to stop typing this several times because I was crying so hard. I'll get through this one, too. Having a good, hard cry is cleansing. Wears me out, tho.

So, now I'm going to go in and watch The Office. That's a pleasant snap in the other direction.