Thank you Tikay, that was very nicely summarized. I appreciate it.
I was dreading the church ceromony so much as most people that know me, know my feelings against religion. But I know Monday had nothing to do with me or my beliefs or even Kims for that matter. It was about my wider family who would have taken comfort from the ceremony.
I just shut my ears and thought about my uncle and the things we shared and the times we spent together and kept telling myself in that church, don't forget his smile, don't forget his laugh don't forget his bad jokes.
The burial itself was so humbling, so so many people went there. They stood around the grave and rippled out into a big circle. People were stood on the snow dusted ground, shivering and shaking from the bitter cold but yet they still stood and seemingly found it hard to leave.
A Greek tradition at burials apparantly is to provide some symbolic food to share. We had olives, bread, cheese and a sweet red dessert wine produced in Cyprus called Commandaria. From all the painful parts, this breaking of the bread so to speak, was one of the warm parts - even though I dropped my olives on the floor and Kims daughter was still able to laugh at me.
I have a huge family with over 30 first cousins alone. Even with this I've struggled in the past with large crowds and preffered to be a bit of a loner. If this tradegy has taught me anything then it's reminded me about the closeness you can have with your family and no matter what life throws at us, we will always be there for each other!! Oh and to call my mother a lot more

I don't know where all this came from. I only logged on to thank Tikay for going to the funeral and a ty for excellent summary.....