Thoughts on a funeral...

Dave's grandma passed away this last Sunday. So, on Tuesday we made the trek to the Quad cities to say our final goodbye. The journey proved to be an interesting one for us. Grandma lived her last few years in a town called Silvis. However, before that, she lived in Ashton for a VERY long time. She ended up being buried in Ashton. For some reason, this led Dave and I to a discussion on where we would want to be buried when that time comes. The jury is still out...and hopefully the need will not arise for quite some time. Still, it was in interesting discussion.

Some things of interest:

There was a CD playing hymns softly in grandma's room at all times. She passed away to "It is well with my soul"...Now that is truly a great way to go. Dave and I both had goosebumps, and tears when his aunt shared that story with us.

Noah and his cousin, Tyler got along swimmingly. There was one wrestling match, but it ended amiably.

On our drive from the visitation to the funeral we passed a road called, "Bloody Gulch Ave"- You can't make this up people. I didn't grab my camera fast enough to take a picture.

I missed most of the funeral due to an overactive 2 year old. However, I heard that it was beautiful and the parts that I DID catch were very moving. It was more important that Dave was there to say goodbye to Grandma. He and the rest of the male grandchildren were pallbearers.

When we arrived at the cemetery, Noah felt inclined to point out all the "Big rocks". He walked along and said, "Big rock. Big rock. Big rock"

At the reception afterwards, Dave was talking with a group of people. It came out that he was a vet. One woman asked him, "What's the name of the horse clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico?" Uhh...How obscure a question is that? I imagine Dave felt that he was on a game show...he lost that question.

It was really nice to see many relatives that we had not seen in quite some time. Many people had not yet met Callie.

It was hard to see Grandpa. He had been married to grandma for over 60 years. That is a great love story. There were pictures of them in their later years kissing like newly weds. They would often sit together on the bench overlooking the lake at the cabin...I always found that to be pretty romantic. To be married that long and still delight in your spouse is pretty incredible. It will be very hard to see him at functions without her. They were quite the pair. I hope that Dave and I have a love story like theirs that spans the decades. The trip was truly a great testament to their love for one another and their family. She will be missed.

Now we are back home. We arrived late last night. Noah didn't fall asleep until after 11:30. That's why I was a bit surprised when he popped into our room this morning bright eyed and wide awake at 7:30. He didn't get much sleep. It should prove to be an interesting day, with hopefully a LONG nap tucked in there somewhere.