Cremation

Ma was cremated on Monday, Nov. 30. Pa went to the crematory. I would have joined him if I had known he was going. I heard he cried.

We picked up Ma's ashes the next day at the funeral home. I didn't see him, but the workers said Pa was crying when he took the urn.

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, we took Ma's urn to the cemetery. There were only about a dozen of us there. Father Larry did the blessing. Pa cried a lot. So did Isa.

The niche has a glass covering so you can see inside. We attached a small, framed photo of Ma to the front of the urn. Next to it we put a framed photo of her as a young woman. We included her two prayer books, worn and all taped up from decades of use, and her blue rosary. Outside the niche is a vase where we put fresh flowers from the wreaths that people sent.

Only one person joined us for lunch. Before Ma died, she wanted Peking duck for Thanksgiving. I thought it appropriate that we have that for lunch. Ma would have loved it.