I've attended 2 funerals in the past 3 weeks. One was a cousin in NY and the other was my wife's uncle.
I found out about my cousin 2 days before the funeral. In short order, I determined I had to go. My uncle went with me. I drove up I-95/N.J. Turnpike/I-95 to the wake and funeral. The next day was the burial. I drove straight back from that.
During the repass, I "caught up" with some of the NY family and got the family history from the "NY branch" side of things.
The family was part of the Northern Migration. My great aunts and uncles came with their parents from S. Carolina to Baltimore. One great-great uncle didn't like Baltimore, (or maybe being so close to so much family), and went on to New York. He found work then sent for his family.
I heard some nice stories concerning going to church, singing in the choir, and general living in NY.
After the burial, email addresses and telephone numbers were exchanged. There's a family reunion being planned so that they younger members of the family get to know each other outside of funerals.
It was being planned before the death but it didn't happen.
Back down I-95/N.J. Turnpike/I-95 my uncle and I went. It was the first time my uncle and I spent that much extended time together.
On Thanksgiving, while over my sister-in-laws house, we got a telephone call saying that her uncle had passed. The funeral was the other day and it was intense. But the gathering of the family for the days afterwards was fun.
In both cases I wondered why funerals can make some of the best family reunions.