Aunt Ginny's Funeral

Aunt Ginny was Papa Mick's sister; she lived in Fairfield, Iowa.  She wasn't very old, but she had been sick for a long time.  

After she died, Oliver went to her funeral in Fairfield.  He cried a little bit (his mommy cried, Molly cried -- there was plenty of crying).  Oliver wasn't crying because he missed Aunt Ginny -- he had only met her a few times -- but because it was just a little scary to see a body without a person in it anymore.  His mommy took good care of him, though, and he was okay.

Fairfield is a beautiful little town.  After the funeral, we took a walk to the park downtown.

Here's Oliver's mommy with Mai:

Molly with Papa Mick:

And Mai, Papa, and Jen:

Oliver very often declares that whoever is handy is a bad guy and he, of course, is a good guy.  Nearby (or imaginary) objects become guns or swords or whatever the weapon of the moment is, a brief battle ensues, and then he announces, "I killed you.  You're dead."  It occurred to me that having an actual experience with death might have an effect on this, but it didn't seem to.  A few days after the funeral, having been defeated and pronounced dead once again, I asked him, "I'm dead?"  

"Yeah," he said (very cheerfully).

"Should we put me in a box?"

He seemed very slightly alarmed at that idea.  "No, it's just for pretend."

P.S. I'm sorry if the picture of Aunt Ginny seems creepy or disturbing.  I thought she looked beautiful and I really liked the fact that she was in a cardboard box.