Sunday, June 11, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Hello, I am a crested penguin.
Kemiry had an adorable project for school and she had to prepare a presentation. We as a family had to make a penguin. We chose to make a puppet out of felt. Kemiry learned two stitches, how to sew on a button and a whole slew of penguin facts.
What a fun project and a bonding experience for us girls.
Grandma's Funeral
We had Grandma's funeral last week. It was peaceful. I think she was finally ready to go. There are a lot of people who were very sad. I am not sad that she is done with this life, I am sad that I didn't get to ask her more questions or that I didn't comfort her more in the end, but I am happy that she is done with her test here on earth.
My parents asked me to make the program for her funeral and give the eulogy. I cried all the way through, but I am happy I was able to do that. I think it gave me a lot of closure.
Dolly Mae Lund Eulogy
Something
that I have learned through this experience of loosing grandma is that we all
grieve differently. Some of us drowned our sorrow with tears others drowned it
in Cake and potatoes. Some of us find solace in the company of loved ones,
while others prefer to be alone.
Some people make themselves and others laugh as they try to find their
zen and others put their shoulder to the wheel and serve away the pain. Although
the definition of grief is ever changing and completely subject to its owners individual
needs and circumstances, I think all grief shares a common theme of loss and
regret.
We
may regret that grandma didn’t get to see the beach or Elvis one last time, we
may be sad that there was not one more touch of the hand or that we didn’t get
something off of our chest. Maybe someone didn’t get to forgive or be forgiven,
it maybe that we didn’t get to hear all the family history stories. We may
regret not being able to see her more often or take just one more picture. My
daughter expressed that she wishes she could have given great grandma just one
more hug.
I
don’t mean to discount the grief that we ALL are feeling, however, might I
suggest that those regrets can be buried with her mortal body. We can instead,
remember, memorialize and learn from her life, the good and the bad, and become
better people because of the life she DID live and the associations we DID have
with her. We need to count the number of hugs that we did have not the ones
that we missed. We can remember the stories we did hear and learn from them. We
would be doing those beautiful times and memories that we do have a disservice
if we focus on the things that we did not get a chance to do. We must take comfort knowing that
through Jesus Christ we can be together again and all regrets will be swept
away in that beautiful reunion.
Something
that has helped me in my grief is to remember. Remember as many details as I
can.
I
remember that she had a very strong connection to animals, especially her
puppies that she dearly loved. Her connection with animals including that
rattlesnake that wrapped itself around her daughter’s leg. She had no problem
connecting a shotgun shell with his head.
I
remember that she loved beautiful things. She always had a flower garden,
beautiful jewelry and more Avon then any person should ever own. Eve remembers
her mother teaching her the names of all the plants as she taught her
daughters, by example, to create beauty all around you.
I
remember that she was stubborn and fiercely independent. She was so kind to pass that gene onto
me. Fun fact, her birth name was
Dolly but she was christened Dorothy. Her father hated the name Dorothy. She
later legally changed her name to Dorothy and insisted that her name was not
Dolly.
I
remember that she had a sarcastic sense of humor. I didn’t appreciate her
negative witty comments until I was an adult when I realized that she was
actually pretty funny. She passed this gene onto Lori who remembers that she
had an “innocent sense of humor that came along with a laugh to wake and
stimulate any listening ear.”
I
remember that grandma always had dark curly hair. I think when I get older and
I start to go grey I am going to blame her for tricking me into believing that
all old people have brown hair.
I
feel like I missed out because I don’t remember her baking, but Jan told me
that she remembers that she was not a very good cook, but boy could she bake.
Coffee cake, chocolate-chocolate chip cake and divinity. Donna remembers the
delicious divinity as she told me, Mom would “let me stir in the egg white and
beat it. Then I got to clean the bowl.” Donna also remembers her porcupine
meatballs, which is not a baked good, so she couldn’t have been that bad in the
kitchen. Eve Remembers that she even baked when the family lived in a cabin
with no stove or oven. Ill let her try to remember how that was done and tell
everyone later, maybe she’ll teach a class.
I
remember that there was always a garden with peas and zucchini and tomatoes.
I’m pretty sure that grandma never sowed that garden; it was grandpa’s
garden. But I remember the feeling
that he did it for her.
I
remember that he loved her. I can see it in my mind, him in his suspenders and
blue sweatshirt, putting his big grandpa arm around her and pulling her in
close. Grandma told me stories, and I am now, as an adult, aware that they did
not have the perfect relationship. I know that grandpa was not always a perfect
man or husband. That is not what I remember though, I remember as a child
knowing that they loved each other.
I
remember that she loved music. She told me one time about how much she loved
going to church to sing in the choir and play the organ. Grandpa’s church
didn’t use a piano and the congregation sang accapella, she expressed that this
is how she decided that his was not the true church. The three hymns that are part of today’s program were her
favorite, which tells a lot about her. She loved music because it was her way
of expressing her love for the Savior, Jesus Christ
I
remember that she had a testimony of Jesus Christ and in learning all we can
about dolly’s mother, she too believed in the savior. This is a memory that I will hold dear and am forever
grateful for, for the passing down of faith and hope and courage.
As
we each deal with our individual grief, and hopefully burry our regrets and
sorrow, may we all find comfort in the knowledge that Dorothy loved her
children and grandchildren and that she is, as aunt Lori put it, “surely part
of the heavenly choir.”
Rainbow hike
On our hike this weekend we got sprinkled on, but it was worth it to see this awesome rainbow spread across the river.
I love where we live. It rained here last year 70% more than the national average! That is crazy.
Without the rain there would be an absence of all the green trees, puffy clouds and of course, rainbows.
Without the rain there would be an absence of all the green trees, puffy clouds and of course, rainbows.
Thursday, February 02, 2017
Dolly May Lund
My grandmother passed away tonight. We weren't terribly close. All my childhood I thought she was grumpy and depressed. I do remember how cute her and my grandpa were and I remember thinking that they were in love. I remember the garden. I remember lots of floral prints and more Avon products than a person could use in a lifetime. She loved animals, I remember that. She played piano and sang and she loved Jesus.
In more recent years, until we moved away, my grandma and I became closer. I learned that she had an interesting sense of humor and was quite sarcastic. She was grumpy and depressed, but kind of funny. She loved beautiful things (hence the Avon and floral prints) She had a rough life which I learned about as I showed her pictures and asked her questions about her mom.
Like I said, grandma and I were not super close, but this is still tough and confusing. I will miss her here on this earth and the association that we did have, but I am so happy that she is able to be with Everett and see her mother again. She gets to see her daughter Rosie and her son who have also left the earth. She gets to be with the savior and learn more about the gospel. I love thinking about the reunion and the orientation to paradise on the first day home. She didn't want to die, she gave specific instructions to keep her on life support, but I feel strongly that she got over it while in the hospital and that it was easy to let go and move on. I think she is happy now.
I told the kids about her passing and they had lots of questions. "Why did she die now?" "How is she in heaven already if her body isn't in the tomb yet?" "Why did they turn off the tank?" (Life support) "why didn't I get to see her one more time?" "How old is she in heaven?" "Was she good or bad on earth?" And many more. Kem cried more then I thought she would. Kroten said he is happy for her.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Santy
This year Kemiry was super into Santa. She was so excited to go see him. Anytime we saw Santa she would say, super excitedly, "Santa looked at me" or "Santa waived at me" I hope her magic lasts a few more years.
Kroten doesn't really believe in Santa, but I think he knows if he officially declares that, then he won't get as good of gifts or Atleast some of the magic will be gone. He goes back and forth on his opinion. The conversation of the reality of Santa always includes a little tooth fairy convo too.
Christmas came early
Christmas came early to our house since we were going to visit family on the actual Christmas. It was very quiet and fun. We all love getting gifts. Who doesn't.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Face
I sent jared a text today with this emoticon 😬 refering to the face that Kroten was making as he waited quite impatiently for the bathroom. Kemiry read the text over my shoulder and said with a puzzled tone"he is making this face?" How I caught her making this face is a mystery and I swear I burnt a cheeseburgers worth of calories laughing at the conversation afterwards.
Happy New Year
It was pretty uneventful and laid back. We had nachos and cider. We all went to bed around 10 pm. We're not partiers, but we're happy together. That's all that matters.
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