Family time at the Maxwells on Memorial Day

[Queen Of Hearts]

For those speculating about Terri's mom moving into Maxhell, just remember that Stevie seems to idolize the Duggar's (most likely due to their fame and $$$). Let's hope Jan doesn't become the family's laundry slave a la Grandma Duggar.

[MamaJunebug]

Dear Lord God in Heaven, please let the Widow Maxwell move in with Tami ... if only for a tryout.

I know about the oddity of the KC-area visitations. I guess the idea is that everybody mills around and remembers the departed, and visits amongst themselves, then when the family appear, the visitors can pay all attention to those bereaved, with their networking having already been done.

Here, we call the pre-service get-togethers "the visitation." We call the get-togethers after the services/burials "the wake." The wakes are where folks cry *and* laugh and let down their hair and shake it off .... if for a little while.

Back to the charities which are preferred for Mr. Maxwell's memorial contributions. The Leavenworth-based resource for teenage parents has a website that hasn't been updated since mid-2011. It links to a Facebook page which basically is the page of a young woman who likes the place. At least that's all I could get out of it.

The other two charities - a Christian camp In Colorado and a Bible school in the Chicagoland area (if memory serves) in Illinois both have up-to-date webpages and neither seems to promote strict isolationism of Christians from the world.

No further comment, just another curiosity in a scenario full to the brim with curiosities.

[Coco]

I don't find it that strange that they are smiling in the pics of this post, but that they don't mention Terri's dad. It is about Memorial Day after all. I know Memorial Day is truly about those who died during service, but it's become a day to remember all family/friends who have died. And Grandpa had been in the military, correct?

And it seems like if they did a staged thing for Memorial Day that auto posted like nelliebelle1197 said, they would have added a little blurb like, "In honor of..."

[salex]

I have never been to a wake where the family shows up at the end, and I've been to a lot of wakes in my life. I'm Italian. We go to everyone's wake. Is this common? "Visitation will be Thursday, May 29th, 2014 at Belden Larkin Funeral Home from 2:00 PM until 8:00 PM, with the family present from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM."

In KS among the protestants I know, visitation and wakes would be wholly different kinds of things, especially for an elderly person. If you change out "visitation" to Viewing of the body and flower drop off, you would be closer, though most people have flowers delivered.

6-8 family present means friends can stop buy and give their regards to the family between 6-8. I have been to some of these (for younger people) that lasted 4+ hours, and were just people walking though, shaking the hand of the family, talking a bit among themselves and going on (sort of a receiving line. On the other hand, for some older family members, the "visitation" was scheduled for the hour or two before the funeral, to work for out of town relatives and .

I am not familiar with food at these "events" as they are at the funeral home and most people don't stay long. Meanwhile, people have been taking covered dishes to the homes of relatives, so family and out of town relatives and friends always have food available, but usually not a ton of people other than relatives and very close friends. far fewer than likely come to visitation.

Usually, there is some kind of dinner after the funeral--often at a church fellowship hall but sometimes at a home or restaurant.

I have never been to a true wake, only to visitations.

[16strong]

I have no clue whatsoever, this is just a thought: I wonder if the Maxwells have avoided mentioning Grandpa's death because G-ma told Steve point blank she didn't want to live with him. Perhaps Steve applied great pressure and she told him to eff off? And mentioning Grandpa's death would also require them to mention what grandma was up to. They wouldn't want to admit she's living alone or not with them, following their rules. So maybe they decided it was best to forgo mentioning his passing altogether.

[LurkerOverThePond]

I have no clue whatsoever, this is just a thought: I wonder if the Maxwells have avoided mentioning Grandpa's death because G-ma told Steve point blank she didn't want to live with him. Perhaps Steve applied great pressure and she told him to eff off? And mentioning Grandpa's death would also require them to mention what grandma was up to. They wouldn't want to admit she's living alone or not with them, following their rules. So maybe they decided it was best to forgo mentioning his passing altogether.

That could be it. For GiGi's sake, I hope she packs her bags and leaves for Alabama to live near Tami. Wouldn't that be nice that after all these years putting up with Steve's shit she told him to f*ck off :twisted:

I've always wondered that maybe Grandpa and GiGi stayed in Leavenworth just to be near Teri in case Steve finally flips.

[Justme]

Maybe Stevie is pissed off that Rex's service wasn't about "him". Rex wanted an actual minister to run the service, not Steve. He didn't ask the "children" to perform "music". Reading between the lines of the obit convince me that Rex and Jan "went along" with Steve but never bought into his crazy train. They probably did so to keep an eye on the "children". Well, now the "children" are all adults. (Mary turns 18 in August.)

[Toothfairy]

Do the Maxwell kids even know what Memorial Day is. And I wonder why they haven't mention the passing of their parents. That's a huge loss for anyone to go through.

[Jana814]

That could be it. For GiGi's sake, I hope she packs her bags and leaves for Alabama to live near Tami. Wouldn't that be nice that after all these years putting up with Steve's shit she told him to f*ck off :twisted:

I've always wondered that maybe Grandpa and GiGi stayed in Leavenworth just to be near Teri in case Steve finally flips.

Great thoughts!! & I agree with both of you. & like someone said above. I also hope she goes & lives w/ Tami. I have always wondered how Teri's family felt about the Maxwell crazyness I saw on the obituary that her sister only had 2 kids.

[Marian the Librarian]

Bumping to report that today brings us a new post from Sarah, announcing that Sundays are special days for "family time," and including a bonus link to the Maxwells' infamous bean burrito recipe, along with the obligatory happy-family-kitchen-assembly-line photos. I swear, they do this to taunt us...

Still no mention of the grandparents who have so lately shuffled off this mortal coil. The lid, it is screwed down more tightly than ever.

[Dru]

Looks like there's a nice big fountain soda sitting on the island in one of the photos. Wonder who that belongs to? Probably not someone in Nathan's family because one of Mel's sisters once commented that Abby didn't know what pop/soda was. Could Teri have fallen back into her old ways now that she's in mourning?

[nausicaa]

"An exciting proposition: Joshua loves lawnmowers. The drawback the rest of us observed. Lawnmowing tile is an extremely noisy proposition."

Keep at that writing career Sarah. You really have an ear for the flow of language.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Some days when I read the Maxwell's blog, I all but pray that it's satire. Can any one family really be this boring? They give merely "boring" a bad name. What's beyond "boring?" :pink-shock:

[MamaJunebug]

Also, the plural of sister-in-law is sisters-in-law. Not sister-in-laws.

Again with the special family time. As others have mentioned many times before – all their time is family time. I guess I some are just more special than others.

Personally, I would be so bored… :shrug:

[WonderingInWA]

I'm still giving them a pass for not talking about the passing of Steve's mom and Teri's dad. It's not like either of the deaths were unexpected, but there is the grieving period whether you expected the deaths or not, and as much as there were probably many plans in place, putting them into action is something else entirely.

I am guessing eventually they will post about them, but only when they can find the opportunity to process all the changes that have finally come to fruition. Steve's an asshole in every other way, but I am sorry he lost his mom, and that Teri lost her dad, and that Teri's mom lost her husband. Nothing really fully prepares you for that. Not even a schedule and a Chore-pak.

[SPHASH]

I'm still giving them a pass for not talking about the passing of Steve's mom and Teri's dad. It's not like either of the deaths were unexpected, but there is the grieving period whether you expected the deaths or not, and as much as there were probably many plans in place, putting them into action is something else entirely.

I am guessing eventually they will post about them, but only when they can find the opportunity to process all the changes that have finally come to fruition. Steve's an asshole in every other way, but I am sorry he lost his mom, and that Teri lost her dad, and that Teri's mom lost her husband. Nothing really fully prepares you for that. Not even a schedule and a Chore-pak.

As much as I dislike Steve and Teri I don't wish grief on them. I noticed Gigi isn't in the dinner picture. Now that she is widowed is she no longer welcome? Or hopefully she moved in with Tami.

[MamaJunebug]

SPHASH wrote:

As much as I dislike Steve and Teri I don't wish grief on them. I noticed Gigi isn't in the dinner picture. Now that she is widowed is she no longer welcome? Or hopefully she moved in with Tami.

From your keyboard to God's ears and Gigi's train ticket to Alabama!!!!

[Letgo]

I think they could fit her. They have four bedrooms and only use three of them. They also have four bathrooms, so Grandma could have her own.

Chris's family is expanding, too, so I don't think they'd be able to take her.

At least at Steve's there would always be someone there to take care of her.

Oh yes, Steve has room. Unfortunately for Grandma. Remember several years ago, before Christopher was married, he moved from his own bedroom into the one with his three younger brothers. Because they loooove togetherness so much! So there has to be that extra bedroom. Or, in Maxwellworld, I am sure that Grandma would prefer to be sharing a room with her three granddaughters. Aunt Tami, come save your mother!

[Justme]

Stevie deleted a comment from the Memorial day post. It was the last one. The "fan" posted about recently loosing her Grandfather who was a Vet. They had even answered it with an "Amen". It seemed innocent enough. I wonder why it was deleted??? :?

[anjulibai]

I still see it. Are you looking at the right day?

[anjulibai]

I read the post over again, and I'm guessing this is the closest we'll get to them acknowledging Grandpa's death:

We’re grateful to those who have served and do serve our country. Some gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I think about the helicopter that was shot down in Vietnam, trying to rescue my wounded grandpa, and all on board gave their lives. For him! I’m without words.

As we remember those who’ve stepped into Eternity before us, we’re grateful for their lives.

[Justme]

Stevie deleted a comment from the Memorial day post. It was the last one. The "fan" posted about recently loosing her Grandfather who was a Vet. They had even answered it with an "Amen". It seemed innocent enough. I wonder why it was deleted??? :?

Nevermind, I was looking at the post above it...

[Jana814]

SPHASH wrote:

As much as I dislike Steve and Teri I don't wish grief on them. I noticed Gigi isn't in the dinner picture. Now that she is widowed is she no longer welcome? Or hopefully she moved in with Tami.

From your keyboard to God's ears and Gigi's train ticket to Alabama!!!!

Agree!

[Coco]

Looks like there's a nice big fountain soda sitting on the island in one of the photos. Wonder who that belongs to? Probably not someone in Nathan's family because one of Mel's sisters once commented that Abby didn't know what pop/soda was. Could Teri have fallen back into her old ways now that she's in mourning?

Sonic! delish :lol:

I'm sorry for their grief, but it's their own fault if people snark when they try to make everything (like drinking a little sugar) a spiritual thing. Just let loose and live a little! :roll:

[DrPusey]

Speculation about the radio silence on the grandparents' death aside, the other thing I notice about the most recent blog post is that Sarah/Steve is carefully showing us that Christopher and Nathan's families are there at the same time. That seems like a "FU, internets" moment since we've speculated on FJ about whether Nathan and Christopher's families aren't in each others' pockets any more, for various reasons.