Grandpa Walt - My first memory is connected to him. He died when I was a toddler, I remember being passed around at his funeral. I just remember the moment not really the occasion. He was a man filled with intergrity he loved his family, the Lord and was a good, faithful man.
Aunt Beatrice - I remember her rum balls at Christmas. I remember Christmas Caroling at her house, I remember being 18 and graduating from high school and her calling me to tell me to come live with her and go to the U of U. I remember dad working on her house, being stunned when she was just gone one day.
Aunt Annadelle - I remember her voice, her laugh, her stories, the books she had stacked everywhere, the first time I had French Onion soup she made it, I remember being intrigued by her when I was young she lived in Ohio and that seemed so far away and exotic.
Uncle Sam - I remember his sense of humor, his big black glasses, his willingness to be silly with us, his intelligence, philosophical discussions, his squirt bottle, and his swimming pool in Phoenix!
Grandma Althea - so so many memories, sitting in the basement watching her sew, giving me my first Georgette Heyer, Blackberry jelly, wigs, watching her go to college when she was in her 60's, her pottery, her paintings, listening to her conversations with Mom, Mary Crouch and Dad, conversations with her about philosphy, books, children, church and life in general.
Aunt Lorraine - the lovely way she smelled, her beautiful smile, her wonderful paintings, her cute little dogs, her soft voice, infectious laugh, her friendship with my mom. I loved her almost as much as I loved my mom.
Mom - I couldn't have wished for a better mom, friend, or confidante. I remember trips to the store with her where she would buy a Reese's & a Kit Kat she would split it with me and tell me not to tell the others. Of course she was doing the same thing with them. Sitting under a quilt watching her needle move in and out and listening to her and the other church ladies gossip. Waking up to her rubbing my back, putting curlers in her hair, dressing her for her funeral, and my final memory, feeling her rub my back to wake up about a month after she passed.
Dad - I remember him reading to us on Saturday afternoons until he fell asleep, he taught me to drive, one rainy afternoon he made me park for 3 or so hours until I finally got it right, weeding the garden, tending the calves, the barrel of wheat in the garage, the mustache, visits when I was in school and pining for home, driving him to and from Cedar City for surgery, giving him his pills, making sure he had eclairs, riding with his body to the cemetary and my final memory, him sitting beside me on the couch about a month after he passed.
So loved, so missed. Take a moment today to remember those who are gone, and then give a hug to those who are still here that you love as well.
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