My girlfriend picked me up at 3 p.m., and we drove down to Dunedin. The funeral was at 4 p.m. The parking lot was already pretty full. We got towards the door, and there were people everywhere.

We joined a line of people waiting to sign the book, then another line of people wanting to give their condolences to the family. This took around 40 minutes. The Aunt of the young lady that passed away was the first of the family. She is the one I have spent time with. We hugged and talked, and then I shook hands with other family members, until we went the mother. I had seen her at one of our group functions, so I hugged her, and it broke my heart to see how distressed she was. I was introduced to the father, and siblings.

We found seats next to another lady from our group. The line never stopped, and many were standing around the room. When it got to 5.30 people started leaving, and it had to be almost 6 p.m. when finally, a minister spoke. It was only family members that spoke about this young lady, and then it was down to the Community Center.

Here we sat with other members of our group. There was food, and drinks. We left after 8 p.m., and I got home an hour later.

So that’s why I wasn’t around yesterday afternoon, and evening.