Grandpa Mike's Memorial

We are just back from Colorado and Grandpa Mike's memorial service.

It was one of THE BEST memorial services I've ever been to.

And I've been to a lot. (When we lived in Provo, we helped plan and attended 11 funerals in 3 months. So I know a little about funerals . . . unfortunately.)

Here's why it was so great:

1. Kathy (Gpa Mike's wife), hosted everyone.
All of the family--more than 40 people at my last head count--stayed at their home for 3-6 days! (oh, some people were in campers in the driveway, so not everyone was under the roof, I guess.)

I think there were something like 12+ kiddos and 30+ adults (brothers, sister, sons, daughter, in-laws, neices, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and hospice caretakers). Oh, and Blues the Golden Retriever and a skinny cat I never learned the name of!

It's funny, as we were leaving for Colorado, I remember thinking, "this is going to be miserable." (Yes, I'm a pessimist by nature. Just kidding. I just couldn't wrap my brain around that many people under one roof for funeral/memorial service.)

But holy maccaroni was I wrong.

There was not one--and I mean one--difficult, stressful, uncomfortable moment this weekend.

In fact, I think our family had the best time we've had in such a long time.

Seeing family, eating major meals together (how do you feed that many?), and just spending lots of time talking about Grandpa Mike was THE BEST.

2. It was a great way to honor Gpa Mike.
I learned so much about Gpa Mike--not only at the service, but at the weekend "retreat" with everyone at their home. Gpa Mike's brothers, Kathy, Dave's brothers, Chelsea, co-workers, they all had such fun things to share about Mike. (People came from Washington, New York, Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Illinois, and more. By bus, train, plane, car, shuttle . . . .)

3. The memorial service was amazing.
As much as I don't want to think about my own parents, Dave's mom, self, Dave, family passing away, I'm telling you, I am duplicating Gpa Mike's memorial service like a recipe for my favorite chocolate cake.

It was that good.

Here's the overview (under 90 minutes):

It was in a beautiful small chapel. Kathy spoke. They read a poem from Kathy and Mike's wedding day (wow). Chelsea played the cello. Rebecca played Claire de Lune (Shaun's choosing). Dave spoke (gulp--he's amazing). Michael spoke (amazing again). And then Patrick put together a slide show of Gpa Mike's life that was set to music (Pat, you could do that for a living. So not kidding. Seeing Gpa Mike as a baby, teen, newlywed, parenting, in the military, etc. was SOOOOO FUN! It really made you appreciate his whole life, the people he blessed, the good times he had. It made you less sad and more grateful for a life well lived--and well shared.)

4. The road trip was fun.
Dave takes to the road a lot more than I do because he has an office in LA. And I have to tell you, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy a 7 hour car ride.

But you know what?

I loved it.

The drive/scenary was actually pretty. (A change is so good!)

The kids are old enough that they are FUN co-pilots. They make you laugh. They don't really argue or complain. It's like going somewhere with small friends. LOL!

And . . .

you can buy fireworks in Wyoming 2 for 1. Talk about fun!

I'm so grateful we had this weekend. It was a great celebration of Gpa Mike and great memories with family.