The First Six Weeks, Part 6: Funeral

Monday morning the kids were up and going around 8am and Andrew and I rolled out of bed sometime after.  Emily and Nathan slept in the children’s room and by the time we made it in there they had pulled out just about every toy in the closet.  A dream come true for those two.

My family and my Uncle Craig’s family all stayed at my Grandma Blomquist’s house together.  It was so fun to all be under the same roof for a few days.  My dad, cousin Caleb and I shoveled the driveway and walks first thing in the morning to make space for all the family that soon would gather.  Andrew built a snowman with Emily and Nathan.  The Blomquists celebrated Christmas.

In the afternoon all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered together.  The four siblings met for hours to arrange the final funeral details and the rest of us enjoyed just being together.  Normally we are spread between England, Maryland, Iowa, Indiana, and Utah so this was a rare opportunity to all be under one roof!

Aunt Angela captured many sweet moments from that night:

We had a traditional Blomquist Christmas Eve dinner from when my mom was a young girl.  We then opened the presents we would have given Grandma Blomquist and everyone got a chance to share the thought behind them (pic from Aunt Angela).

Tuesday morning Laura, my mom and I left at 8:10 to head to Santaquin to hop in Aunt Denence’s car and continue on to Richfield.  We took the scenic adventure route to a flower shop to make final arrangements for the funeral.  Then we continued on to the mortuary to dress Grandma’s body.  The experience was sacred and perfect in every way.  It was such a privilege to be there with my mom and great aunt and I will always be grateful for that time.

Laura was an absolute gem all day, but the last leg of the journey from Santaquin to Provo she screamed at the top of her longs.  We made it back home at 4:30 and quickly changed to head to the church at 5:15.  We took a family picture and then stayed for the viewing.  Our little family lasted until 7:00.  I was grateful to be there and see extended family.  They reached out to us and shared the sweetest memories and thoughts.  My aunts and uncles set up the room with pictures of Grandma and all of her posterity, Grandma’s drawings, and a table of things that she loved and represented her life. It was beautiful.

Wednesday I woke up before everyone else to feed Laura and then spent some time alone in my grandma’s room.  We then got everyone dressed in yellow and went to the family viewing.  We all formally went up one last time before the children and siblings closed the casket.  Uncle Cary said the family prayer.  We walked the casket to the chapel for the funeral.

It was a beautiful service.  Uncle Vernon, Uncle Arthur, Aunt Michelle and my dad spoke.  Everyone did so well and represented the different aspects of her life – including her silly side.  Brian played a beautiful oboe solo accompanied by mom.  My cousin Katie sang a vocal solo.  Many of us sang Nearer My God to Thee.  At the end all of the grandchildren and sons/son-in-laws were either pall bearers or honorary pall bearers and walked the casket to the hearse.

Andrew’s mom and sister came down and it was so nice to have them there.  They ended up helping with Laura during the service and dropped some things off at the house for my family afterwards.

Grandma’s ward made sack lunches or us and we hopped in our cars to head to the Monroe cemetery.  I drove while Andrew sat in back with the kids to help keep the peace. It was really nice to have two hours to just think in the quiet.

Once everyone arrived the pall bearers carried the casket to the burial site.  Uncle Craig dedicated the grave.  We waited until the casket was lowered before leaving.  It was a warm and sunny December 27th. Another beautiful gift.

My cousin Andrew sat with Emily for a long time and pointed out all the people in our family.

We met almost everyone in Richfield to get ice cream.

Once we got back to Provo all the family gathered at Grandma’s house for dinner. Richard and Cathy had all the fixings for sandwiches and sides.  They also brought a huge birthday cake and we sang Happy Birthday to Grandma and had a very well attended celebration for her 77th birthday.