Cousin Margaret Ann will be missed....

It has been another stretch since I have been on here updating what has been going on in the Alcala Family. Juan and I took a 4 night cruise to Mexico here just last week, and it was great! I will post about that and put some of the great pictures out here on that later. Then just this past Thursday we got some bad news that my cousin Margaret Ann passed away on Thursday morning.

Margaret Ann was really technically my third cousin, but she was more of an Aunt to me as I am closer to her and her family than I am to my own Aunts & Uncles in my family right now. My Dad is very close to her and lived with her and her family for awhile while he was going to college down in Mississippi.

The boys and I and my Mom and Dad just went down to Mississippi this past August to visit Margaret Ann and her family, and we stayed for a week with her and had a wonderful time. I am so glad that we were able to make the trip and spend this great time with her and she was able to see my boys and enjoy getting to know them.

This picture was one of Margaret Ann and my Mom & Dad and the boys from this past summer. We were at the Jackson zoo, and boy was it hot that day! We had a great time!

When we got the news on Thursday of course my Dad knew that he had to come to the funeral. I tried to talk him into flying as it is such a very long 12 hour drive down here but he would not hear of it. He DID NOT want to fly. So, Mom and I made the decision that it would be best for me to go with Dad on the drive down to Mississippi as I would be able to help Dad drive more than she would. Plus Mom was not feeling that great, so she stayed home and watched the boys on Friday while Juan worked. Thankfully Juan was off on Saturday and Sunday, so he was able to keep the boys. So Dad and I started out on Friday morning and the drive was long and exhausting but we got down here about 10pm on Friday night. We went to the funeral yesterday and it was a very nice service. Margaret Ann was one of the nicest most Godly women that I have ever know. She reminded me so much of my own Grandmother (who was her first cousin), and I just loved her so much. She will be greatly missed!

As sad as it may be for the reason for the gathering the only one upside to a funeral is that you get to meet up and see the whole family and extended family all together. This was the case with this trip and my Dad and I were able to see lots of family that we haven't seen in awhile.

It is now Sunday and we are up and getting ready to head out on the long drive home. Dad is slow in getting ready to leave, so I am sitting here typing this out while it is on my heart. Hopefully we will be on the road soon, and back to good old Indiana!

More to come later....