My grandpa Barton has been battling with dementia for almost a year now. He was near the end and was surrounded by his children and wife the following week up in St. George. He took his journey back to his Heavenly Father early Saturday morning, January 8th. My dad was there, with his father when he passed. It was a very bittersweet thing. I will miss my grandpa Bear so much. My dad then drove back and joined us in Mesa late Saturday evening.
Saturday afternoon many of us gathered a Sheepherders Park in Mesa and had most of the cousins play together for a couple hours at the park while we enjoyed each other, mostly laughing, a little bit of crying, and spending some time together.
It was my parents un-farewell talk on Sunday and I got to be with all my siblings their spouses and every grandchild at church in the 46th ward. It was such a wonderful time being together again in our home ward. It brought back a lot of memories... although the last time we were all together at church in that ward, none of us were wrestling children! =) Justin and his family had also just moved back into the area, and subsequently, back into the ward, so their records happened to be read it while we were all there.
My mom spoke on service, and how we can accomplish service in every season of our lives. She even mentioned the service that we can do on the other side, emphasizing grandpa, and of course, caused me to cry... again. I was VERY emotional on Sunday. She did such a wonderful job.
My dad spoke about righteous family traditions, and filled his time talking about many memories and things that we have done as family. Family meals, prayer, Christmas traditions, temple trips, family home evenings, etc. It was a great talk focused on all the many good times I remember from my childhood.
It was a nice, emotional, enjoyable trip to Mesa. I love my family so much and proud to be part of them!
4 comments:
Valerie, I'm so sorry about your grandpa. I'm really glad your dad could be there, and I'm glad you were able to have somebody to cry with. I wish you all the best.
I'm so sorry to hear about your grandpa's passing. Though, what a blessing that it happened before your parents left, so that your dad was able to be there. Those goodbyes are hard.
And a goodbye to your parents too...also hard! That's neat you all got to be back in 46th ward together...oh, the memories!
I love the last picture of you guys all as a family. That's a frameable one and all the kids are looking at the camera! Amazing! Did you get a big family pic with all your brothers and sisters and their families too? We haven't had all of our family together in one place since 2005 and we've had many new additions and other changes since then.
Val, we were thinking about you and your family today-the day of the funeral. I hope all went well. I'm glad you posted about this so you'll have these memories. We miss you guys and hope you can come visit some time this spring! Love, Amy
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