We had a houseful since Aaron and his family were staying with us. The funeral was changed slightly to accommodate a new chapel open house in Farmersville (that I was very involved with and had to step aside for).
We helped the children all made cards, pictures, letters to grandma. There was a small drawer in the casket that we put them into. I included a photo of my kids. She loved her grandchildren!
Aaron and Laura had this fabulous idea to attach Dove chocolates to 3x5 cards for people to take a piece of chocolate and share a favorite memory of mom. We've gathered those and typed them up. Mom would have wanted everyone to have a piece of chocolate at her funeral.
The foyer was FILLED with all the things dad had designed for mom over the years that showcased their love story. Here is of my favorites:
Dad was a bit late to the viewing, he'd stopped by the cemetery to make sure things were just right. The viewing went fine. I was worried about the children, but as a tender mercy, we'd just been through all of this with Carl's father their Great Grandfather and so they knew what to expect.
The family prayer was offered by Aaron. We each took a turn saying goodbye and the casket was closed. Then mom was rolled into the chapel with us following behind.
I remember that the church was FULL. As I waked in I got all emotional. SO MANY of our friends not of our faith were there. Neighbors, soccer team friends, PTA friends, my children's teachers. It was overwhelming.
The program was PERFECT. The grandchildren sang "I am a Child of God" with Stephen playing his violin. Ann gave the eulogy, Uncle Brian spoke, Aaron and I spoke. Ben sang "I'll Believe in Him." I have no idea how he sang, I can't sing and cry at the same time, he NAILED that song, I've never heard him sing so well. He took the breath away of everyone there. Then the Bishop and Stake President both spoke.
We were all dying over how long the service was. Most of us were managing unruly children (thank goodness Matthew fell asleep--he otherwise would have been a handful). We didn't feel it was necessary for the last two speakers to take so long, the whole service was a couple of hours. We were so worried that people would be upset but all I ever heard was how wonderful the funeral was, that it was the nicest one they'd ever been to.
It was really muggy outside after the funeral. The grandsons were honorary pall bearers and Sam and Grant did what they could to help, Matthew stood next to his dad.
Dad's blessing at the graveside was perfect and beautiful. He wasn't sure he could do it but wanted to make sure it was done right.
One of my favorite things about the day was this rainbow seen in the sky. A symbol from heaven of Mom's approval of all that took place. My sweet neighbor took a photo of it right over my house while we were at the funeral. It's a photo I treasure.
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