Today we traveled up to Aunt Pam's chapel for Grandma's funeral services. As always, it's great to see all of my family. We spent an hour at the family viewing mostly greeting those that we haven't seen for a while. It makes me really miss those yearly trips to Grandpa's farm so many years ago. Without those trips, I doubt I would have any real relationship with all of my cousins.
Unlike most viewings, Grandma actually looked really good lying there in her coffin. She looked just like I remember her, beautiful as ever. Only this time was very different because she was not talking.
I remember once at the farm when I was around 8, I walked into the kitchen looking for food and she started talking to me about something or other. About 15 minutes later she was still talking but hadn't turned to look at me for quite some time so I decided I would just wander off and pick up the conversation whenever I passed by that way again. I wonder if Grandpa ever did the same thing.
Mark, Dave, Pam, Dad, and Chuck all spoke at the funeral and I actually took some notes. But for the most part they agreed on the following: Grandma loved and lived the gospel for her entire life. She was always found reading the scriptures until the day she died. She was the driving force that got her family to the DC temple to be sealed. She was as thrifty as the day is long. She farmed and canned and preserved and prepared so that a family with so little could feel like they had much. She made do with what she could find, often making clothes and blankets out of feed sacks and factory scraps. I am not sure if she was the first but it appears she was definitely the one who passed the love of reading down to her children.
At the end of the service the area 70 said a few words calling the service "a sacred moment". He said that he always tries to take one lesson from events like these and this was his for today: "The lives of faithful parents will bless their children for all eternity." It's easy to agree with such a statement when you walk into a room of over 150 of Grandma's decedents and feel the love, respect, and happiness that we've been so blessed with. Thank you for your fine example and we look forward to our next reunion.
So Carter and his entourage have been very bored lately and all they want to do is play Wii, DS, or other computer games. I try to think of things for them to do but usually have a worse imagination than they do. After all, it's freezing outside.
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