Friday, February 1, 2013

Rockville, MD (USA)

Nicky and I drove up to Rockville to attend a memorial service for my cousin, Michael Coogan. He passed away a few days ago. It had snowed the night before, so we had to clear out the driveway and drive carefully all the way. We arrived just before the service was supposed to start (1000), but then realized we had been duped by the famous iPhone Map app - we ended up at the wrong church (Mary Magdalen Episcopal). After recaging (and looking for other results on the internet), we eventually located the 200-year-old St. Mary's Parish in downtown Rockville. It was a little building on a hill (next to a modern church, built to fit the large congregation of the present-day). The service was very well done, presided over by an Irish priest, who spoke in Gaelic for much of the service. There were a lot of people in attendance. Afterwards, we drove to Pat's house and paid our respects to her and her daughters. We spent a few hours visiting with everyone, meeting many of Michael's friends and relatives, before we drove back to Alexandria.