Special moments

We had a really special opportunity a few weeks ago, for Chris' entire family to gather together. His grandmother, Dottie, passed away and after having a funeral out in California where she lived, her body was brought out to Logan to be buried. So, we were all able to come together for a graveside ceremony and to spend time together. It was really, really special because the whole family hasn't been together in a long time and EVERY person was able to make it. 

Grandma Grover was a special woman. I had the opportunity of visiting she and Grandpa several times on our trips out to California and I always enjoyed the opportunity of visiting with them. Grandma was very talented, very athletic, and had a lot of zest and spunk to her. She was always so, so kind to me (as a newcomer to the family) and so good to our children as well. Shortly after I met her, she started to get dementia and had a hard time remembering all of us over time. But she was ALWAYS kind, no matter if she knew who we were or not. She was beautiful and always a gracious host. I am grateful that I had the chance to get to know her better before she passed away and I am grateful for the beautiful family that she created and that I get to be apart of now. In the end, she was suffering and quite sick and so when she passed, we felt grateful that she was able to move onto a much happier and more comfortable existence. And we are so grateful for the knowledge that we have that families can be together forever and that this life is but a short piece of our eternal journey. We will be able to see Grandma again and we will miss her until that time. 

(our family with Grandma and Grandpa last summer)

 It was a wonderful day of reflection and family. It brings so much into perspective that really nothing else matters in life than our relationships and our families. I'm glad we could spend the day together! We all came back to our house afterwards for a nice lunch and to spend time together. We were happy that we lived so close and could have that extra time to visit with each other!