Good bye

We started early to celebrate Grandma LaRue.  The mortuary provided a time for the grandchildren and great grandchildren to gather and talk about what will happen to Grandma LaRue.  The children then had the chance to draw a picture to put in the casket with Grandma.  It was a nice chance for the children to be more familiar with what death is all about but it was also something we observed from a distance.  Our children were interested to go but not ask or answer questions and definitely weren't interested in getting too close. 

Ridge's picture for Grandma.

We were able to participate as a family choir during the funeral.  All the grand children and great grand children had the chance to sing for Grandma.  There were tears.  We headed to the cemetery and were able to get all of the grandsons together.

We got together later to spend time enjoying each other's company.  It was so wonderful to catch up with everybody.  Rob's cousin Jennifer is currently living in China and she had such amazing stories of their adventures.  It was fun to hear about the antics of everybody's children and feel like we all just fit right in together.  We enjoyed the view and the time spent at Gardner's.

 

 

It had been awhile since we had spent time at Grandma LaRue's house and I missed her being there.  It was interesting how different her home felt without her there.  The smells were different, the decorations were turning to the practical and even medicinal and it hit us how much pain and difficulty she experienced the last few months.  We still felt the love and welcomed but we missed Grandma.