Grandpa Tom's funeral

My Grandpa Tom passed away on November 4, and his funeral was on November 15. I knew going into the weekend that it would be emotionally draining, but also really nice to be with all of my family. All of us were able to be together for the weekend, and that part was really nice!

My parents and all 14 grandkids (all 9 and under) (chaos)

The original 8: Sky, Ike, Luke, Meagan

Meadow, Dad, Mom, Mikelle

My mom was asked to make a quilt from my Grandpa's t-shirts, to be displayed at the  viewing and funeral. She sewed like a mad woman and overnighted me the completed top, and then I was able to quilt and bind it and bring it down when we came.

 

There were lots of cool things on display at the church

 

An old cash register from Wrights Market

 

5 years ago we had a reunion with all of my Grandpa's descendants-we've grown even more since then

Grandpa loved to give his great-grandkids tootsie pops when they visited him, so this was perfectly fitting

It was a long day for the kids

The viewing was difficult for me. I feel like living far away I hadn't had to fully deal with losing Grandpa, but when I saw him there it really hit me that he was gone. Hallie had a hard time as well, which broke my heart even more. I miss him so much and think about him all of the time. The day of the funeral was warm and sunny. The funeral was really, really lovely, even though I pretty much cried my eyes out. Every time I saw someone else crying it made me cry...even though I felt complete peace about losing Grandpa. My cousin Jaron and his wife Shelly played a duet, the great-grandkids sang I am a "Child of God", the grandkids sang "Families Can be Together Forever", and the Wright family choir sang "In This Very Room". My dad gave the life history, my mom and aunts each a short remembrance, and my Uncle Tommy gave a talk. I heard some stories I hadn't heard before and some I had, but most of all everyone talked about the life of service my Grandpa lived. He lived to serve others, and was the kindest, most thoughtful person I know. All of the grandpa's 19 children were there for the weekend. It was really nice to see everyone, because it is a rare occasion that we are all together.

The grandsons served as pallbearers

After the dedication of the grave.  I really love all of these people-my parents and aunts and uncles. They all had a peace and love about them and handled all the details of the funeral/viewing with such grace.

We are all sad that Grandpa Tom isn't here with us anymore, but we know that he is with my Grandma again, and that he lived the best life possible, and we couldn't ask for more than that. Now, to teach our kids about his legacy and try to live as he would want us to.