church photos

John's Uncle Eddie passed away unexpectedly before Christmas. He and his wife lived in Florida and after his passing the family decided to bring his ashes up here to be buried near his son in New Jersey. The service was last weekend in John's cousins church. The church was lovely and I managed to snap off a few photos before the service.

I wish you could see how nice this looked in person,

the arches and stain glass windows were beautiful.

The entire inside of the church has incredibly archways and domed architecture

and all of the arches are hand painted. This photo was taken where I was sitting

The statue up near the ceiling is larger than it looks here.

I'm not quite sure these marble columns are real. They have a clear coat on them that

doesn't look like what you would seal real marble with. I wonder if these are incredibly

well painted faux marble or poorly sealed real marble.

From far away they were really quite handsome.

After the church service we went to the funeral. Uncle Eddie's ashes were laid to rest

in a vast and tremendous cemetery with more crypts than I have ever seen in any other cemetary. There were hundreds of them. They were everywhere. I happened notice that a good amount of those crypts were of substantial size and engraved with Italian last names. I didn't recognize any of the names on the crypts we passed as possible crime family names but I watched the Sopranos so I know there are lots of them in New York and New Jersey. I would have taken photos but the rainy graveside service started right away.

After the services we went back to John's cousins house for what turned out to be an

"Irish" funeral. (I was designated driver and refrained from the spirits)

Johns cousin's house is quaint. Although he is a bachelor

John's cousin has a talent for mixing interesting historical and vintage pieces, sports and guy memorabilia, hand painted furniture and feminine botanicals for what has got to be one of the most eclectic yet comfortable houses I have ever been in. Its part museum and part English cottage. Its a cosy little old house filled with interesting artifacts that makes you feel like you can kick off your shoes, settle in on one of the many mismatched chairs and enjoy time spent with family and friends.