To Virginia . . .

It's a rainy Thursday morning in Pittsburgh, and I leave for Virginia in a few hours. With the memorial service for my Aunt Betty scheduled for tomorrow, my father, my sister, and I are driving to the town in Virginia where my aunt and uncle used to live before they moved into the retirement community. It's a small town, more or less in the middle of nowhere, called Purcellville. My uncle was the mayor of the town way back when. It was not as glamorous as it might sound. I remember when the town got its first McDonald's sometime around the early 80s, my uncle told us that the town council voted to restrict the new restaurant's use of the big "golden arches" that used to accompany some McDonald's locations. It was a big deal at the time for the town mayor.

Anyway, some changes have been made to the plan. Sidney is staying with some friends of mine, so I will be taking him there this morning. My sister is flying into Pittsburgh from Chicago this morning, and then she, my father, and I leave this afternoon. It will be good to have my sister along. The car ride will probably be better, and at least I will be able to get some help with the driving, if I need it.

I was so underprepared for an occasion like a memorial service that I have been scrambling around the last few days, trying to get some appropriate dress pants and shoes. The pants that arrived from L.L. Bean on Tuesday were way too tight in the waist (one of the pitfalls of ordering clothing online), so I will have to send them back. But it forced me out into the world of shopping and retail department stores. I went to Macy's to pick out a pair of dress pants that actually fit in the waist (a true rarity, it seems, it my life). I am pleased with the comfortable fit, but the length is still too long, but since I don't have time to have them tailored, I will just have to gut it out on Friday. While I was buying the pants, I realized that I didn't have comfortable, properly-fitting, dress shoes, either. So, I moozied on over to the men's shoe department and found a nice pair of black loafer-esqe shoes that I bought. I got both items on sale, so perhaps department stores aren't all bad, although I really don't like going to them for much of anything, if I don't have to.

So, with seemingly all of the necessary details taken care of, the trip to Virginia for my aunt's memorial service looms somewhat ominously before me. Hopefully, it will stop raining. Hopefully, it will not be a miserable trip. Hopefully, we will all get through it as best as possible.