*Note: I didn't write this post until February 2015 -- I back-posted it to November for the sake of keeping things on a timeline. For a multitude of reasons, excuses really, I just couldn't seem to put fingers to keyboard. Unfortunately, details fade... but the whole picture and true memories of the event still stand out and are clear, even if they weren't recorded right away.
The viewing for mom was on Friday evening. Mark & I and the boys headed up to Idaho on Friday afternoon, stopping in Malad at the funeral home on the way. We met Dad, Kathleen & Micheal, and GayLynn there. The mortuary brought Mom's body in to a small room so that we could help put temple clothes on Mom. (The boys stayed in the van) Honestly, I was a little disappointed in Mom's appearance, she didn't quite look like herself, although she still looked very beautiful. I know Dad was really disappointed -- that made me feel sad. I think mostly it was the shape of her mouth that just wasn't quite right. Anyway, it was very apparent (in feeling) that Mom wasn't really there -- it was simply an earthly body. Her true spirit was busy having a delightful reunion somewhere on the other side! Kathleen & I (mostly Kathleen) helped put on the robes and shoes. When we were finished with our time there, we headed on up to Dad's.
Shortly after we got there, food started pouring in from the sisters in the ward! It was wonderful. We all felt very loved. The viewing was at the stake center that evening. Many people came through to pay their respects to Dad and our family. I was especially touched to see a couple of my friends come through the line. It was kind of hard for me to greet people, because my shyness really starts to kick in. I was glad John and my sisters were there beside me! Lots of our own immediate family started coming and it was great to see everyone.
Saturday was the funeral. What a warm and beautiful sunny day -- unseasonably so for November in Idaho! Mom would have liked that! We had a viewing again in the morning before the funeral and wow -- tons of people again! Lots of our extended family had made the journey to be there with us -- the Garn Brady's, the Teicherts, the Dee Jay Brady's, Uncle Joe & Aunt Gay & a few from their family, Kirk (Uncle Rolf's family), Christine (Uncle John's family), and Uncle Fred & Aunt Adohr. It felt good to see everyone! There were also lots and lots of Mom and Dad's temple friends.
After the viewing, all of the family members squeezed together in the Relief Society room for the family prayer. Dad offered the prayer - it was beautiful. Then Dad gave Mom a last kiss, and Kathleen placed the temple veil over Mom's face and the casket was closed. This was hard. We pulled ourselves together and filed out of the room behind the casket as we went into the chapel for the service.
The funeral was a wonderful tribute to Mom! I gave her life sketch. I didn't really want to do this, because I thought I'd just cry and it would be really embarrassing, but I held myself together (til the very end) and I think it turned out well. After all, I got to tell everyone how awesome my mom is!! I am SO glad that Dad asked me to do that. (I'm grateful that Kathleen had put a lot of things together about Mom's life earlier this summer in response to a family reunion program request from Rodney. That made my information-gathering and composition of the sketch so much easier!) After that, John talked, and Uncle Joe talked. What great memories we all shared of our Mother. Michelle and Randy sang a beautiful duet, the great-grandchildren with Matthew and Jacob sang, and then all the grandchildren sang. As a surprise to most all of us, at the end of the service, all the temple workers stood and walked out of the chapel and lined the sidewalk from the door to the hearse in tribute to my mom. Wow! It was so incredibly touching to me! There were so many of them, I wondered if there was anyone to keep the temple open that day -- surely they were all at the funeral!
We drove over to the cemetery in Arimo for the burial. We had a flower tribute where each of us kids and each of the grandchildren placed a flower on the casket to say our final goodbyes. Micheal dedicated Mom's grave. We spent quite a bit of time there visiting with family before heading to the church in Virginia where the Relief Society had prepared a delicious lunch for us. There were a lot of family and friends there. I had a really good visit with my friend Carol Gilbert, who I haven't seen for several years. All of our immediate family, except for Spencer (he's on a mission in Norway), was able to be together at the funeral -- amazing! We took a picture, of course!
After all that we headed back up to Dad's for a couple hours to hang out and visit with everyone before heading back home. A good day, a long day, a sad day, a happy day all in one.
No comments:
Post a Comment