We are back from the second funeral

Vaiva's second funeral was, um, words fail me. I'm making notes so that I can have a coherent post on it, right after I finish the earlier-promised coherent post on the first funeral in Hartford.

I've tried to keep the blog very positive, focused on the happiness in Vaiva's life. I'm not ducking the cancer, but I'm not dwelling on it either.

Similarly, I'm not sure how much detail is really appropriate about the funerals. It's a time for remembrance, not a time one wants to remember. Still, I expect that Vaiva's many friends who could not be present for the ceremonies would like to know more, so I will post on them. I will include photos also, but can't at the moment because I left my Sony proprietary connection cable in Durham, attached to my desktop. We're shopping for a new one Friday.

I will mention these three details:

• President Adamkus laid a bouquet of white flowers draped with the Lithuanian colors at the foot of Vaiva's casket.

• My children failed to stand to shake the President's hand. I was shocked, he wasn't.

• Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis gave an unscheduled and lovely eulogy. Seven people spoke in the church after the funeral (including him), three spoke at the grave. We have video of most of the speeches, which I will have Aras summarize for me.

That's as much as I can do for now. I could not sleep at all last night, it was my first such insomnia since Vaiva's death. I hope it is the last.

Now it's time to begin preparing Kučios.