The circumstances were not so fun, but the whole day was one I will never forget.
The whole time, I kept thinking, "I need to document this". Thank the Lord for blogs. And while it's a few days late, I am now ready to type it all out. Here goes.
1. The morning began around 6:00am when I texted Lindsee to ask her if she was going to wear her funeral clothes now or change when we got there. We both agreed that we should dress comfortably for the drive and then find a place to change somewhere along the way.
2. Lindsee was late because she blew a fuse at the house and really needed to iron her dress.
3. It cracked me up that both of us brought approximately 3 different outfit choices.
4. Before we got on the road, we stopped at Starbucks. It was the first time I had had caffeine in three weeks. Blessed be the name of the Lord. She got a pumpkin loaf. I got a banana loaf. Then Lindsee asked for 1 Splenda and the girl insisted several times that she take multiple Splenda just in case.
5. We got on the road and spent the first hour of the trip on the topic of "The Bachelor". We discussed Vienna, the way the media has trashed her, Jake's possible motives in choosing her, and whether or not they will last. This was a very important conversation.
6. At one point I showed her a clip on You Tube that has become her new obsession and she hasn't stopped talking about it since. It even got an entire blog post devoted to it.
7. In Dallas, we got about a mile away from the church and decided to stop at Chick-fil-A for lunch. We spent most of the time discussing where we were going to change clothes. We opted for the Chick-fil-A bathroom but it was a bit intimidating since this was the grand opening day of this particular Chick-fil-A and people were EVERYWHERE. We discussed whether or not this Chick-fil-A was the best place. I told Lindsee we could change in the car and she informed me that this was not an option for her as she had to change into a dress.
8. We changed in the Chick-fil-A bathroom. We teased and sprayed our hair in the Chick-fil-A bathroom. It was a shining moment for us.
9. Back in the car, I attempted to put my makeup on but dropped a big goop of foundation on my black pants. I ran back into the Chick-fil-A to grab a napkin and some water to try to wipe it off but all I did was smear it and get chunks of napkin all over my black pants. Lindsee got out of the car (still in the Chick-fil-A parking lot) and sprayed her hair as people passed by in the drive-thru line.
10. Lindsee asked me approximately 36 times if what she was wearing was okay.
11. We drove to the funeral. We saw Jo. We cried.
12. We sat through the funeral. Thankfully, I brought 2 packs of Kleenex (one for me, one for Linds) that we also shared with our entire row. It was the most beautiful service, and horrible all at the same time. I will never ever forget the look on those parents' faces for as long as I live. But it was wonderful and was such a celebration of that sweet precious boy. God was praised.
13. We rode to the cemetery with Joanna's parents and we got lost.
14. The short service at the cemetery was beautiful and more emotional than the funeral. Some of sweet Carson's little friends were incredibly emotional and that was very hard to watch. At the end, Joanna walked up to Lindsee and I with open arms. The three of us hugged for a very long time. It was one of the most precious moment of our friendship to date. I will cherish that memory always.
15. At this point I realized that there are no more tears in my body.
16. We went back to the church for the reception. Lindsee and I spent about 10 minutes in the wrong reception. Then we found Jo.
17. We had to say goodbye at this point. We hugged our dear friend. While we were sad that we had to go so soon, I was so happy that I could be there and hug my Jo. We don't get to see her very often.
18. On the drive home, we started to get a bit delirious. When we decided to stop in Ennis for dinner, Lindsee proclaimed loudly "We'll see you in 5 minutes, Ennis Texas!"
19. We stopped at Whataburger and changed back into comfy clothes in the Whataburger bathroom because we are classy like that.
20. Enter the Pandora section of the trip. We used Lindsee's iPhone to put the "Glee Cast" station on on Pandora. We had a lively mix of Broadway, Glee, and most of all, Disney. We sang hits from Aladdin. We sang hits from Beauty and the Beast. Then Lindsee said "I hope it plays Let's-get-down-to-business-to-defeat-the-Huns". Now, most people wouldn't know what this means, but I know that she is referring to the first lyric in "A Man Out of You" from Mulan, sung by Donny Osmond. And lo and behold, THAT WAS THE VERY NEXT SONG.
21. We sang each song with great conviction.
22. Lindsee looks to me and very seriously says, "Jen, I feel like my gas is getting lower". Yes, dear, it is.
23. The last hour was pretty rough. We were both oh-so-sleepy.
24. Linds drove me back to my car where we hugged and I got all my junk (including my 3 outfit choices) and said our goodnights at 11:15pm.
25. I love that Lindsee more than words can express. More than she will ever ever know.
3 comments:
I am seriously laughing so hard it's ridiculous. You documented that day better than I ever could have! Loved it and love you to bits. So glad we got to do that together and not alone, I would never have made it back! I love you!
Lindsee told me about this day and you nailed it! I love it that you love each other so dang good.
Hugs to you both!
I HAD NO IDEA THAT DONNY OSMOND SAND THAT SONG. I instantly knew what that was.
Confession: I can't sing well AT ALL but I can sing ever Disney song. ;) Caroline is being introduced to Disney music in the car these days.
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