Wednesday, 17-Apr-13

I got to work early for once… quite early in fact. But unfortunately it wasn’t due to me being productive or feeling energetic – it was to make up a bit of time so that I could leave early that day. I had to pick up Chirag from his office, get on the highway, and drive down to Rhode Island for Mike’s Mom’s funeral.

• I get into work early, much earlier than normal. Which honestly isn’t that early in comparison to the rest of the folks who work at Artisan.

• Get a good bit of work done before I head out to pick up Chirag at his office… where he makes me wait outside for like 15min. When he finally comes out, he’s flanked by two ladies who he works with. And I quote, “Whoa! Chirag, you didn’t tell us that you drive a Mustang!”. I didn’t have the heart to correct them.

• The drive down? Amazing – perfect weather, just sunny enough that I was worried about getting a sunburn with the top down. I did, incidentally.

  • Entertaining note: we had three different methods of navigation going at once – Chirag’s phone, my car’s navigation, and the paper maps that I’d printed out just in case. And, of course, they all advocated different routes.

• After a quick stop for food at Dunkin Donuts, we arrived exactly five minutes after the official start time and head inside after meeting Daniel in the parking lot.

• The funeral itself:

  • We sit down and meet some of Mike’s friends from High school.

  • There are three speeches – A minister, a Priest, and Mike’s friend Ryan. Ryan talks perfectly – he tells perfect stories, and paints an amazing picture of Mike’s mom.

• Afterward there’s a short reception, where we meet a few other members of Mike’s extended family; his aunt’s and cousins, his other step-brother Joel, etc…

• But after the official reception we all jump in cars and drive out to the ocean, aiming for a bar called Ocean’s Mist.

  • It’s the perfect dive bar for us. Lot’s of seating, cheap food, good beer, and a ocean-view deck that we can sit and talk on.

  • Cigar’s come out, chicken wings are eaten, and Mike tells us about his Mom. Ryan chimes in with a few stories as well, and healing slowly begins…

• A bit after midnight I head out with a cup of coffee in hand, aiming the steering wheel at Boston.