10/7/17

Gathering Graces 10/6/2017

*What a wonderful day coming together to celebrate the life of my mother.  It was a perfect ending to her good and full life.  The music was wonderful, Christy’s sharing was a perfect story to tell, and Bill’s eulogy was a wonderful combination of funny and sweet.  Each time someone shared, it was from the heart.  And that is how it should be. 
*At the end of the service, Bill, Christy and I made our way to the back of the sanctuary so we could greet everyone who attended the service.  It was wonderful hugging that many people, and thanking them for being a part of our day.  And I was pretty impressed with myself that I remembered the name of every single person who came through the line.
*We then gathered at our home for a continuation of Mom’s celebration.  It was one of the perfect fall days with blue skies and temperatures in the 70’s, which made it a wonderful easy for people to spill out into our backyard, as well as sit on the main floor, and down in the basement.  Friends were so generous with their sharing of food, and things couldn’t have gone better.  At one point, Mom’s favorite wine, Reisling, was poured, and Paul led a toast to our mom. 
*It was wonderful getting a chance to visit with people throughout the day.  Little snippets of conversation here and there from people I had not seen in a long time.  It was fun seeing people from our neighborhood growing up, people Mom had taught with, and Mom’s longtime childhood friend journeyed all the way from Boise to attend.  I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love shared throughout the day.
*Many of Mom’s relatives were in town for the weekend to attend her service, and we all gathered back at our home for dinner.  Lura and Lyle roasted a turkey, we pulled out the salads from the earlier reception, and had a wonderful meal together.  It was fun being around my cousins Judy and Lura and their extended families.
*Later Christy, Zoe and I spent the later hours of the evening having a marvelous time visiting with our cousins Mark and Derek, and Derek’s wife Cathy.  Mark lives in Orofino, and Derek and Cathy live Massachusetts.  We had a wonderful time remembering times when our family would visit Orofino, and sharing things from our family history that the guys had never heard before, and them telling us things we hadn’t heard before.  It was a very special way to end a very special day.

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