June 19, 2026 - Friday

Well, the day has finally arrived. Ben could barely sleep last night and has been so anxious about delivering his eulogy today, but it went well. He cried through the entire thing, but he still managed to speak clearly, so it was a win. Dawn got loudly frustrated a couple of times during the service, and her family and Ali's ducked out of the reception early, but at least there was no scene caused, so we can be thankful for that. Ben's job sent a beautiful flower arrangement. It was the only one there. I think Hazel was asking for donations to the church in lieu of flowers. I'm glad at least someone ignored that! Funerals should have some flowers, I think. Rachel came and Ben was crying because he was so moved to see her in the pews. Altogether, it was good. We saw a lot of Hazel's family that we haven't seen in years and, although the funeral didn't reflect the Dennis that his Boettcher family members knew, Hazel seemed pleased with everything. She was his wife and it was her right and responsibility to plan and pay for this whole thing. Not an easy thing to do when you're drowning in grief. Now that it's over, I wonder how Ben will react. Will he be better, ready to move on? Will he be worse, with grief really settling in? I have no idea and am kind of dreading what we'll be dealing with in the weeks and months ahead. 

We stayed at the hotel and hung out with family for a couple of hours, but needed to head back to be home for the evening. I also agreed to make Liam's dessert for his party tomorrow, so I have some stuff to prep for that.