Rear view

The resort where the Celebration of Life for our friend is being held has quite an impressive staircase in the lobby. The front view is in the extra but I liked this view that made me think of a giant pincers or an alien spaceship. I took these in the morning before people arrived for the celebration. I really wanted to move that table so it was centred.  :-)
The celebration was lovely. The family didn't want it to be a mournful event and it wasn't. Dave was a generous, kind, irreverent man with a wicked sense of humour, and he was well-loved. The large ballroom was overflowing and extra chairs had to be set up in the lobby to accommodate everyone. Dave's oldest brother Bill opened the celebration with some of his memories of Dave and spoke briefly of the day he was killed. The police investigation is ongoing, and it will be several months before the family will know the results. Then Bill and Dan, the middle brother, gave a back-and-forth presentation that was very moving and impossible to describe here. Susan, Dave's wife, spoke about how they met, how much fun they had in their years together, how much they loved each other. Another good friend spoke briefly and had us raise a glass in a toast to Dave. The rest of the afternoon was spent mingling, sharing stories, watching slideshows of Dave's life. In all, a wonderful tribute to a man who wanted to live every day to the fullest. 
Tomorrow we'll have breakfast with Bill then we'll head home. Funny, we had been planning a trip later this fall to see Bill, Dave and other friends who live in this area. Who knew it would be in these circumstances? We didn't get a chance to see our other friends so we'll have to come back.
We're off to the mainland on Wednesday to spend time with family and take in Kalyn's team's home opener on Thursday and a 2nd game on Saturday. Looking forward to it.