My Grandmother RIP

Well, I kept TheBlog silent yesterday in honor of the passing of my mother's mother, my grandmother--Dorothy Johnson. She and I haven't been close in well over a decade, but when I was a kid, she used to call me her favorite eldest grandson. I was sad that I couldn't make it to the funeral yesterday. I had a shoot, a comic to edit, stacks of copy writing to do and a personal budget not too far away from a shoe-string. When you live paycheck-to-paycheck the way I do (which I don't recommend), you really can't take time off without having serious consequences.

Anyway, she was a very nice woman and lived a loooong life. Here's a picture of her at her 90th birthday party which I actually was able to make it to:

She passed away a week ago today at my aunt's house. Four days from today she would have been 94. Here's the obituary that my family (whom I am also not terribly close with) had to shell out $200 to get in the local paper:

Dorothy Herbert Johnson
Dorothy Herbert Johnson, 93, born March 3, 1911, in Whiting, Indiana, to Genevieve and Hugo Herbert. Teacher (Michigan City, IN; Pecatonica and Elmhurst, IL), Choir Director (Seward, IL), Girl Scout Leader (Pecatonica, IL); beloved wife of Dr. O.W. Johnson, loving mother of six; cherished Grandmother of fourteen peacefully passed away at her daughter’s home Monday, February 21. She received her BA and MS in Education from Rockford College. Preceded in death by her husband of 47 years and her brother, Victor Herbert. Visitation Sunday, 1 – 4:30pm, Toon Funeral Home, 4920 Main St, Downers Grove, IL. Funeral Service, Sunday 5pm, St Andrews Episcopal Church, 1125 Franklin St, Downers Grove, IL 60515. In lieu of flowers please send donations to St. Andrews Episcopal Church.

That's funny, my grandma wasn't a cartoon--I wonder why she was taken care of at a funeral home with a name like that... oh, I don't get my family. I like them just fine, but it seems like nobody really tries to stay in touch/contact with everyone else. It's funny, I'm the black sheep of the family--doing the "artist thing" yet most of my family are all successful yuppies and they use similar excuses as I do as to why they don't stay in touch.

They're busy with work, to tired when they get home from work, can't afford to visit, got a lot on their mind, etc. It's so funny to me since none of us are doctors, scientists or anything resembling truly important people. One of my uncles works for a religious TV station. Another (I think) works for Motorola. Another builds houses. One aunt is in the mental health field and the other is a teacher. Do any of those things sound like they should keep them from a phone for years at a time? How about keeping them from a computer? As for my cousins, I've no idea what they're all doing--can't keep track of all of them.

Still, in the world of instant communication that we all live in, why is it so hard for them to stay in touch?

Oh well.

Good luck, Grandma. I hope there is an afterlife and that you have a good time there. Please say hi to Hunter S. Thompson for me and tell him that I'm mad because he killed himself. Oh but DON'T have a drink with him--he'll probably spike it with something just to see your reaction.