Memorial was tonight

The boys, not being used to any sort of silence expected of them, stayed home with Daddy. Who cited his beard as a reason for not going. I guess he feels a little odd being bearded in a place where the men don't have beards as a rule. Like everyone knows he's not part of the group... I can understand that. No one likes to be an obvious odd-man-out.
It took longer to get ready to go that I thought it would because I had to change my clothes once (it's hard to remember that I put on 20 pounds over the last 6 months and I've only taken off 6 of it so far, so nothing fit) and then i was ready to head out only to not find my purse. By the time I got there 15 minutes late, the parking lot was full and there was a space and a half to park. One space - mud. Did I mention it was raining? The other was a half spot because someone owned a very large truck and didn't have the ability to park it in only one space.
I hadn't been to this hall before even thought I have been called on by a couple that attend there and since they are the ones that left a reminder tract in my door about the time and date of the Memorial, I thought they would be there. I stuck around afterward to say hello and thank them, but I didn't see them anywhere. And strangely enough, not one person struck up conversation. Usually I get swept up in a flood of people wanting to introduce themselves and chat, but I guess the 279 in attendance tonight left me as a stranger among strangers. I am going back on the 26th so maybe I'll get to say hello then.