h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My husband's dad wanted to choose some music for the memorial service. I put together a couple of CDs of stuff we both liked AND that would be appropriate, to listen to while we were around before and after. Just before the service, the funeral director asked about the music for the service; I refered the question to my father-in-law, and he hurried out to his car to get what he had. I had a funny feeling he'd forgotten that he was bringing it. Everyone expected something like the Moody Blues. What we got was, well, ODD. It sounded like sound effects for a haunted house. My husband listened (not often) to Tangerine Dream. What my father-in-law brought was "Goblin's Ball." And just a few days before Halloween. The minister was creeped out. The funeral director was creeped out. Many of my husband's associates were creeped out. I was creeped out. My associates from student government and the college administration found it "odd" to say the least. I imagine Jon was watching from heaven, laughing his head off.

Jon's dad spoke during the service. I could not possibly have, I was crying too much. I was surprized how lucid he was. He went on for at least about ten minutes about how ALL his sons were important to him, and that he did not have a favorite. He gushed about HIS SONS. No mention of his wife or me. Odd. Afterwords, people commented to me that they gathered that Jon WAS his favorite, and that was the impression I was under, too. My father-in-law's longtime business associates hurried to assure me that he thought highly of me during the reception; they obviously picked up on it, too. I felt badly for Jon's mom--it just seemed disrespectful to omit her from his comments about his family. The whole thing was very akward. I felt badly for Jon's other two brothers, too, because it just seemed like their dad was making a spectacle of the family dynamic, and that what he DIDN'T say said at least as much as what he DID say.

Jon's boss told some great stories about my husband, and one of the ladies he worked with told me about a couple of practical jokes he pulled. I was very glad to hear these things. The man who recommended I go out with Jon came with his wife, and I introduced them to Jon's dad and middle brother; they turned away almost immediately which obviously stunned the man and his wife who, I'm sure, just wanted to say some nice things about Jon and express their sympathies. They had worked with both of us for a number of years.