Stuff learned this weekend:

I cannot not cry at a funeral.

Bring a jacket, even if it's not appropriate.

When you're around a dog, you're going to get dog hair on you. Get over it.

Compassion - you can't imagine how important it is.*

If I have a big brunch, I don't have to eat anything else during the day.

I have become one of those people who is better online than they are on the phone. I console myself that I am at my best in person.

*The deceased's sister had lost their mother, then their father, and now her sister. Yes, she's married with kids, but how lonely to be without those who have known you your entire life. In any case, she was hurrying after hearing the news of her sister's death to get to her brother-in-law's side, and encountered behavior that, out of context, seems normal, if a little rude. Knowing that it happened to her, though, while she was in the throes of this terrible loss makes it all the more important to remember to at least try to give people the benefit of the doubt. They are the walking wounded, with wounds you cannot see.