all saints day in b'more

my maternal grandfather died yesterday morning circa 9:30 a.m.

i am in baltimore with my family.

i really enjoy laughing with my cousins. even if they spend roughly 60% of the time mocking me.

my brother arrived today from florida. he looks so slim and tanned and healthy. it is a joy to see him look so good. tonight, patrick and i are bound for bed in our childhood bedrooms (sans the canopy over my bed and the firefighters next to his; down the hall, my parents will be tucked into theirs). this may be the first time since 1991 that our nuclear family slept in the house just us.

tomorrow the little people arrive with tracy. we are all really really really looking forward to seeing reese and riley in action. i think that they will provide some welcome comic relief.

my grandfather was 86 and he lived life fully and occasionally with panache. a family friend tonight confided that she always thought that he was so debonair. he had been especially ill since i moved to ohio. this week he deteriorated rapidly. but, he got to die with dignity in his own bedroom and that was important to him and to us.