Death

So I hear I missed a good prom. Believe me, I wish I could have stayed here and done something fun like prom. Instead I was in a blizzard on Friday. We left for Denver at three and we ended up not getting to Denver until TEN ! Why you ask. They closed I 70 because of weather and accidents in two places. Well my dad being resourcful decided it would be a good idea to go through Leadville and end up by Copper Mountain. Yeah it was a good idea ... except that there was a HUGE BLIZZARD It was the scariest experience ever ! Srsly

Well after that horrific experience the funeral came. At first I didn't think I would cry, I mean I have only met Frank once or twice (he was my grandfather's brother). But when I was sitting in there in the Catholic church, surrounded by all my family members I could feel the tears coming. And it didn't get any better when Frank's son Billy (my brother's best friend) went up and read this letter to his father that he and his siblings wrote. " Dad I know we never talked about things .... " It was the saddest letter/thing I have ever heard ..... Billy could barely finish reading the letter, he had his daughter come up with him just in case he broke down and cried ..... Looking around I saw my two brothers bawling, my mom as usual crying and my dad mr. "stone hard" crying. Ladies and Gents, I cried so much. Listening to that letter I started thinking about the fact that soon my close family would be at funerals for my grandmother's and later I would be at my own parent's funeral. In this strange way I am glad I had to go to a funeral. I saw my grandfather's grave, the cemetary Frank was buried in was full of my relatives. Seeing "Anthony Velarde" made my grandfather seem real. He was born in 1917 and he died in 1973. My dad was on 24 .... I am glad Billy had so many years with his dad, even though Frank wasn't always nice.

I do have two funny stories.

1. my mom yelling at me "STOP TALKING ABOUT MUFFINS !" when she was scared we were going to die on the road

2. me asking Kevin who the cutie was at the back of the church and having him say, "You're cousin Jeffrey ....."

3. having a father from Africa perform the service and having no idea what he was saying