Many of Tom’s family members traveled to Milwaukee for Sister Beth’s funeral, which begins at 10:30 today. Since Tom had seen her when she was alive a little over a month ago, we decided to stay behind for Tom’s eldest sister, Patty, who, at almost 90 years old, would have found the long road trip difficult.
Knowing Patty was staying behind alone, we decided to take the funeral to her. The entire mass and service will be streamed live beginning at 10:30 this morning. Nephew Tony arranged for a bagpipe player to perform at the cemetery.
Patty lives about 35 minutes from here and has no Internet service at her home. We had an idea that we could set up my phone as a hotspot using our T-Mobile account, connect it to my laptop, and connect our HDMI cord to her TV monitor, and Patty would be able to witness the entire event. I tested everything from here, and soon, in 30 minutes, we’ll be heading to Blaine to set everything up to make this happen.
Sure, we would have liked to be at the service, but providing this event for Patty to see was more important. Although the technology is unfamiliar to her, she was relieved to know she could be there in spirit, if not in person. Plus, watching it with her is special to us as well.
After the funeral ends, the three of us will go to lunch, making this day special to each of us. The remainder of the family will return either late today or tomorrow. At Billy’s on Friday, many of us will be together again to make a toast to Sister Beth and share our experiences.
Last night, we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse with TJ and Jayden. We had a fantastic time, and the meal was perfect. We love spending time with our kids and grandkids.
Thus, today, the post is short while we stop to assemble the event’s equipment and get on the road. We will be back tomorrow with more.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, July 24, 2014:
