Several weeks ago, all our Christmas plans went up in smoke when we got a phone call at 2 in the morning from AM brother Jake telling her that their dad was dead. He had had hip replacement surgery several weeks before and had still been recovering when a blood clot from the area broke off and went to his lung. He was 78 years old.
The initial plans were for the funeral to be on Saturday, which meant that we would need to fly out but as the arrangement went forward, it was decided to have the viewing Sunday evening and the funeral Monday morning, which gave us enough time to drive out. So immediately after the kids classes were finished for the year, we started out for Utah. 29 hours later we arrived in Utah. After stopping off at my mom's house to freshen up we went over to AM's oldest sister's home, where there was a large family gathering as by that time almost all the 13 kids and their families had arrived.
For our two girls, this was really the very first time that they had met most of their cousins, and for JPD he was so young that he probably didn't remember any of them well. In addition to the AM's siblings, AM's two aunts had come up from Arizona, and this was the first time I had ever met them. The one, aunt B, looks like a female spitting image of AM's dad. She also had the same sense of humor and laugh. (And the same interest in sports.) Aunt C, was younger (only 70), and was a very fascinating person. I am glad to finally meet them.
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| ENJOYING THE SNOW IN WYOMING REST STOP |
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| MINIVAN PACKED FULL |
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| SD WITH GRANDMA R AND COUSIN K |
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| AM OLDER SISTER...GETTING READY TO LEAVE FOR THE VIEWING |
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| AT THE VIEWING, SHARING THE LIFE OF MY DAD |
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| Aunt C and Aunt B |
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| THE GRAVESITE SERVICE |
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| KIDS AFTER THE FUNERAL |
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EM with Grandma R
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