First, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who provided their words of encouragement and advice on this thread. The members of this forum are truly supportive of everything that happens in our lives, not just kilt wearing.

The remainder is going to be a little long, lots to say and share.

Anyway, I did not have any concerns about going to the funeral in a kilt, but when I went home to pack, my wife asked if I was going to wear my black pinstripe suit. I said no, and she asked what I was going to wear. I replied a kilt and and my Argyll jacket. She got upset and said that it was not about me and I should not call attention to myself. Which surprised me somewhat as I don't wear a kilt to call attention to myself. Anyway, she was concerned that I would not be perceived as being respectful to my uncle and would cause a distraction at the funeral. I did not respond then, but when I packed, I did include both my Blackwatch kilt and Argyll jacket, as well as the suit, which left my options open. When I got to Ft. Myers (where my uncle and family live) I spend my first few hours with my Dad, talking about the loss of his brother, how he was handling it, reminiscing, etc.. As I was getting ready to go to my hotel, I mentioned that I was planning on wearing a kilt and jacket to the funeral, but if he thought that would be a problem, I would not. He said that wearing a kilt was part of who I am and he would not ask anybody to change who they are to come to the funeral. Which made me feel very good. So here is the pic. My father is the one on the center left (greay shirt) and his older brother is next to him on the right (red shirt), and my uncle's 17 year old son is on the left side. He will stay with my Dad's older brother until he is old enough to be on his own. Good thing there is lots of family in the area.



I got no bad comments about the kilt, and was actually told by many people that they thought it looked good, and in talking with my uncle, I found out a surprising bit of family genealogy that I will post on another thread. I did have one older friend of the family, who has known me since I was 8 or 9, walk up and say Hi, then immediately ask "Blackwatch?", I said yes and then noticed that he was wearing a Blackwatch tartan tie with his suit! I did not have time to chat with him much, but I want to as he definiteley was familiar with kilts because the next question he asked me is if I was wearing a sghian dhub! I was not, don't own one yet, but was impressed that he knew enough about the kilt to inquire.