The last few days have been surreal.

Tuesday morning at about 6am I drove to my Aunt's house and we stayed there all day. Making arrangements, meeting with the Rabbi, getting food, and most importantly comforting my Aunt and my 2 cousins. It was a very loooong, very hard day.Yesterday was the funeral and burial and the start of Shiva, the week of Jewish mourning.
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The funeral was very nice, though very difficult. Almost 500 people were there to pay their respects to my uncle. After an extremely difficult and extremely cold burial we went back to my Aunt's home for Shiva.
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For those of you who don't know about the Jewish mourning process, Shiva is derived from a Hebrew word meaning "seven.” It refers to the seven-day period of mourning that takes place following a burial. During this period of time, family members suspend all worldly activities, and devote full attention to remembering and mourning the deceased. This is what is called "sitting Shiva."
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This is a very old practice in Judaism. The earliest mention of a seven-day period of mourning occurs in the Book of Genesis. It is said that after Jacob's death, Joseph "made a mourning for his father for seven days" (Gen. 50:10). Also, it is said that at the time of the Flood, Noah, and also Gd Himself "mourned seven days for the destruction of the world.” Throughout the ages, Jews sat Shiva to remember and honor the dead, and to comfort the bereaved.
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A good website if you want to know more information on Shiva and the Jewish mourning process is: http://www.benjamins.ca/Static/shiva_background.htm Also at aish.com there is a good piece on the Stages of Jewish Mourning.
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I will be spending much of my time over the next few days with my family, mourning, loving, and comforting each other. My family is, needless to say, devastated at the loss of my Uncle Lloyd. He was a great man, a Wonderful Son, Brother, Husband, Father, Uncle, Friend. He was greatly loved by his family and also by his extended family of close friends. He will be missed, and continue to be loved for a looooooong, loooooooong time to come, now and forever.
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Thank you to all those who have supported us all over the past few weeks and past few days. It is greatly appreciated, and so wonderful to see how much my Uncle Lloyd meant to so many people and how much support his immediate family has.