Mom's cremains - the urn was designed and created jointly by her grandsons, Mike and Doug - note the rose on top, her favorite flower - she was cremated per her wishes, to create the least bothersome process for the surviving family members - she was always thinking of others, even at this point in her life's journey...
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The service was wonderful - it had just the right balance of the deep and the fun - deep with her favorite hymns, "In The Garden," and "Old Rugged Cross," and "How Great Thou Art" - and a reading of the 23rd Psalm, her favorite of all scriptures...
The poignancy and fun were conveyed in the talks by sons Gordon and David, and grandson, Steven - each very different, each personal, each touching - Mom would have cried...
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The service was followed by a buffet luncheon served by women from the church, long-time friends and congregants of Mom's beloved church family - as she would have wanted, this was a celebration of the life lived, and we broke bread in her remembrance...
Mom was full of life and energy, stamina and persistence, generosity and love - what she filled her hours and days with amounted to nothing short of amazing - her family, friends, and strangers with whom she came in contact were the beneficiaries...
"I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses..." - a refrain that captures the immense inner life she led....She was outgoing and friendly, but also a quiet and inner, a private person - yet, her values she wore on her sleeve, and you knew always where she stood...
Mom was the unofficial Atwater welcoming committee for anyone who came to the US without benefit of language or home or means - after WWII, and later the Korean "Action," she welcomed into our home numbers of the "war-brides" of returning servicemen from Castle Air Base - this continued until the recent past as Mom continued to go out of her way to help individuals and families begin their lives in a new and strange land, often assuming various costs herself - she touched many such lives...
Life for Mom was rich and full - we weren't wealthy by most standards, but neither were we in want....richness came in the values of family, generosity, and love, and today we are the better for it...