April 13, 2013
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April 14, 2013 Auntie's Funeral
April 14, 2013 Auntie's Funeral
MIL's older sister Setsuko passed away on April 11 at the age of ninety something. We were able to attend the funeral. Sonny B happened to be in Kyushu at the time for DIL's grandfather's memorial ceremony, so he was able to attend also. I felt bad about pulling him out of his other family business, especially after his new in-laws had gotten him a plane ticket and all, but I suppose a funeral takes precedence over a memorial service for one deceased three years prior.
Here is a picture of the gathered relatives, Auntie's two daughters, their DHs and two grand daughters.
We then all went to the train station in Satsuma Sendai to catch the bullet train, our destination being south to Kagoshima and Sonny B's being back north to Kurume. The Matsumoto family gravesite also happens to be in Sendai, so we stopped in to make sure that there was no jungle of weeds springing up therein. "Everyone" had been moved out of this grave site a few years ago for a brief interment at a temple in Kagoshima City. MIL had wanted this done so that it would be easier for her to pay her respects to the dead at a neighborhood temple rather than making the hour and a half trip (one way) to visit this grave site. According to temple rules, however, since after MIL's demise we have no intention of joining the temple, we would not be allowed to inherit or use her space in the urn repository even though she paid a LOT of nonrefundable money to have the urns stored there. She paid all that money plus all of what she has donated to that temple over the years, and they would not allow her interment there because we won't join something that we don't believe in. So, it was back to this grave site for "everyone" until we decide to do something different. They got to ride the bullet train twice, which is more than you can say for most dead people. We may eventually move "everyone" up to a closer crypt in Tokyo.
Outside Satsuma Sendai Station
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