Kathy & I attended the memorial service in Casa Grande for her niece Traci who passed away on October 22nd 2009. The service was held in a store front church in the old part of town. The service was interesting to say the least, leave it to Traci to find a place to worship the lord that is reminiscent of the old southern black churches. Replete with the traditional fancy hats and go to meetin dresses for the older ladies and the close to hoochie clothes for the younger women. The music was LOUD, the lyrics repetitious. There was plenty of the prerequisite jumping up & down, swinging of arms & laying on of hands.
Evidently we didn't get the memo that the memorial service was scheduled to be part of the regular church "Service" and at the end of the service at that. We were there to support Bob, Traci's significant other so everything was OK. It was strange that no mention was made of Traci until the memorial part of the service but if Bob was happy we were happy.
Kathy's sister Gene & her husband Thom were there as was Gene's son Graig & his wife. Bob's sister sat next to him & her husband helped with the service delivering the eulogy. I don't know how long Bob & Traci have been attending service there but it was obvious that they are well liked. I hope Bob continues to go there for fellowship and support, Casa Grande is an easy place to blend into all the lonely souls.I don't have a photo of Traci on my computer, I'll find one and edit this post to include it. I'll try to find one that has Bob & Traci. Traci has been estranged from her family for some time now, only recently reaching out to Gene. Traci had been in & out of the hospital due to illness related to Hep C & prior substance abuse issues. Like Kathy said "Looks like everything finally caught up with her." It's good to know that Traci is no longer in pain & can rest now.
