Too Many Funerals

Monday marked another event that we have been doing too often lately.  Another funeral.    I hate it.  My kids have seen it too much and I have had to answer a lot of hard questions.  Questions that are good and that create good discussions, but discussion I would rather not have.  Questions like: What is cremation?  What do they do with the ashes?  Why aren't grandma's ashes here....I wanted to see them?  Do you think that Boppy met up with Grandma Lord in heaven?  Do we have any more great-grandparents?  And on, and on, and on.  Some All of those questions are hard to answer.

On Monday, we celebrated the life of Kathryn Lord.  She was 94 and lived a good, long life.  It is still hard to say goodbye, but it is a little easier than some other goodbyes.  There weren't many tears at the funeral, but there were smiles, chuckling and fond memories.  Grandma Lord was a great lady.  She was quirky too.  She lived her life well and finally got to go home to her maker, her husband, her son and all of her other family members waiting for her in heaven.  Of that we are certain.

Her last few years were hard.  She suffered from dementia.  She rarely knew who we were when we visited, but she LOVED seeing the kids.  She would just smile and chuckle and say "oh look at them".  Those were the good times.  The hard times were when she would ask "when is Ted coming"? or "where is Ted?" or "where is John".  Then we would have to explain to her again that Grandpa died, John died.  It tore us up.  Then she had to relive it again.  Luckily, that didn't happen as often recently. 

For as long as Chris and I have been married, we have gone to Mt. Vista nursing home in Wheatridge to visit Grandma Lord, Grandma Garry and Grandpa Lord.  It will be strange to not have any more trips there.

In August of 2005, Chris lost his (maternal) Grandma just a few weeks before Tanner was born.

In September of 2007 we had the devastating and totally unexpected loss of Chris' dad while he was on a guys trip to Lake Powell.  He was such an amazing and vibrant man, it was a huge loss.  The loss of a grandparent is a LITTLE easier because they lived a good, long life.  John, however, was only 63 and taken so quickly and unexpectedly.  It was tough not knowing specifics of how/why he died, but we know that God's timing is perfect even though we don't always understand it.  It feels like we are still reeling from this loss, even though it was almost 5 years ago.

We caught these cousins kissing behind the couch after John's funeral

In June of 2009 Chris and I both lost our (paternal)Grandpas (within 2 days of each other and while we were on vacation in Mexico).

Jameson comforting his Daddy when Chris was crying during Grandpa Lord's funeral in 2009.  So sweet.

In September of 2009, I lost my other (maternal) Grandpa (Chris' other Grandpa died when he was two), leaving us Grandpa-less.

So, we are down to one Grandma.  My Grammie is alive and kicking!  However, she is in her 90's so I am guessing we will be attending another funeral in the next few years.  Just yesterday, I received a packet from her of old family pictures and 2 cd's marked "letters to my great-grandchildren".  Even as I am typing, it brings tears to my eyes.  I can't wait to pop those in and have a listen.  What a wonderful idea and legacy to leave!  She is a wonderful woman and she and I are like-spirits.  I get my love of history, culture and geography from her.  When they would come and visit, she would always bring slideshows of their world adventures.  All the grandkids would moan and complain about watching and hearing about another boring trip.  That is all.....but me.  I. LOVED. IT.  I loved hearing all about the wonderful places they went.  She went places with purpose and always learned all she could while she was there.  They would dress up like the native people and have all sorts of fun stories.  Another really cool thing they did was record (with a mini recorder) things about their day or while they were driving along on their trips.  The last time I was visiting her, she was listening to the tapes from their Italy trip.  They were in the car and you could hear the church bells ringing in the background while she was describing her day.  So Cool.  I need to remember that.  The day I get the call about this funeral, will be a tough one as she is the grandparent that I have always been closest too (even though we have never lived in the same state).

The only good thing about funerals (besides the food) is seeing the family that you don't get to see on a regular basis.

The Lord siblings and their children

The John Lord Grandkids (Tanner-6, McKenzie-7, Ashlynn-11, Jameson-3 and Makai-8)

The Lord Children- Ron, Ellie and Teddie

The Reim Family- Kevin, Bob, Ellie and Kris

Teddie and daughter Tammy

Cookie bags given to guests made with Grandma's famous recipes

Guest Book.  Look at what the kids wrote.  So sweet!

Jameson handing out programs

Chris and Stacey sang an amazing version of "Praise the Father, Praise the Son"

We are thankful to have such wonderful and loving families, but we could do with less funerals in the future.  I hope it is a LONG time before we have to attend another one.