This past week saw the passing of my (Jason's) Grandma Jo. I was fortunate enough to make it out to Idaho for the funeral. It was quite a journey.
It started after work on Tuesday this past week getting dropped off at the airport. The plane rides were uneventful, which is good. I did have the good fortune to meet my brother Eric in Denver and take the same plane with him to Salt Lake City. We rented a car and headed north to Idaho through a blizzard. Blizzards out west are really fun, especially in the high mountain passes. The dry powdery snow blows across the road and makes it very difficult to see anything, especially the lines that keep you on the road (thank goodness for the rumble strip on the sides!). We finally made it up to Pocatello and pulled into the hotel that Dad Caldwell had graciously provided his family. That would be about 4 a.m. Eastern time. Needless to say we were both a little tired from the trip.
The next morning (Wednesday) was Grandma Jo's funeral so we all got up and headed to the church for the funeral. It was great to see all the Caldwell's there. Darin and family made it there from Montana, Jana from Washington, Eric from Michigan, Jason from West (by goodness) Virginia, and Mom and Dad from Michigan (mom by way of Washington and dad by way of New York). We certainly like to cover the continental United States.
The funeral was really nice. There were people there that I had not seen for 10-15 years. Lots of aunts and uncles and more cousins than you can shake a stick at. Grandma Jo has 11 children, 44 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren (give or take, my recollection may be off a little) and most of them showed up. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs, it really was good to see everybody. It is an incredible legacy for Grandma Jo to see this family together, there is no better tribute to her than to see all her family and how they are turning out.
Darin gave the family prayer and I know that Grandma was looking down and she was smiling real big at seeing us all there. That's one of the things I remember most about grandma, she was always smiling and having fun, even when she was chasing me out of her kitchen. Eric said it best, she was always doing something. That's a good way to remember her, she was always engaged in a good work.
After the family prayer there was the service. At one point all the grandkids and great-grandkids got up and sang "I am a Child of God," and let me tell you that was hard to get through. My favortie part, though, was hearing Valerie Felt, my cousin, give grandma's life sketch. Did you know she was married for almost 64 years? That is pretty good sticktoitiveness. It sounds like grandma's life was simple and very happy.
After the service it was time to head to the cemetery. What was neat about the graveside service is that the only time on the trip that I saw the sun was when we were at Grandma Jo's graveside. The rest of the time there was during winter storms and blizzards. That says something to me...
That last picture is of the Caldwell's saying goodbye.
After the cemetery it was back to the church for a family lunch. That's where we all get to sit around, catch up, and eat way too much.
My Grandpa Ray was the star of the show for the family lunch. That was pretty much it. Everybody trickled out and went back their separate ways. Darin and his family left not much later as they had a drive to get home and the rest of the Caldwell's went back to the hotel for naps. Eric and I stayed one more night and then headed back to home on Thursday. Of course we had to drive through a blizzard and white-out conditions again on the way back.
So that was the trip, or so we thought. Eric and I had the same flight back through Chicago and as we sat there in the airport watching them prep the plane for take off, all of a sudden we saw one of the back doors fly open and the emergency exit chute pop out and inflate. The ground crew all stood around laughing, then five minutes later a guy came on to announce that our flight had been canceled. So, we hustled back to the main ticket desk and after two short hours standing in line because there was only one lady from United that could help everybody we got flights to where we were going that would only set us back a couple of hours. I got a direct flight to Dulles and ended up at home at just past midnight. Quite a journey, indeed.
Grandma Jo, I will meet you in heaven, have fun up there and enjoy yourself.
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This past week saw the passing of my (Jason's) Grandma Jo. I was fortunate enough to make it out to Idaho for the funeral. It was quite a journey.
It started after work on Tuesday this past week getting dropped off at the airport. The plane rides were uneventful, which is good. I did have the good fortune to meet my brother Eric in Denver and take the same plane with him to Salt Lake City. We rented a car and headed north to Idaho through a blizzard. Blizzards out west are really fun, especially in the high mountain passes. The dry powdery snow blows across the road and makes it very difficult to see anything, especially the lines that keep you on the road (thank goodness for the rumble strip on the sides!). We finally made it up to Pocatello and pulled into the hotel that Dad Caldwell had graciously provided his family. That would be about 4 a.m. Eastern time. Needless to say we were both a little tired from the trip.
The next morning (Wednesday) was Grandma Jo's funeral so we all got up and headed to the church for the funeral. It was great to see all the Caldwell's there. Darin and family made it there from Montana, Jana from Washington, Eric from Michigan, Jason from West (by goodness) Virginia, and Mom and Dad from Michigan (mom by way of Washington and dad by way of New York). We certainly like to cover the continental United States.
The funeral was really nice. There were people there that I had not seen for 10-15 years. Lots of aunts and uncles and more cousins than you can shake a stick at. Grandma Jo has 11 children, 44 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren (give or take, my recollection may be off a little) and most of them showed up. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs, it really was good to see everybody. It is an incredible legacy for Grandma Jo to see this family together, there is no better tribute to her than to see all her family and how they are turning out.
Darin gave the family prayer and I know that Grandma was looking down and she was smiling real big at seeing us all there. That's one of the things I remember most about grandma, she was always smiling and having fun, even when she was chasing me out of her kitchen. Eric said it best, she was always doing something. That's a good way to remember her, she was always engaged in a good work.
After the family prayer there was the service. At one point all the grandkids and great-grandkids got up and sang "I am a Child of God," and let me tell you that was hard to get through. My favortie part, though, was hearing Valerie Felt, my cousin, give grandma's life sketch. Did you know she was married for almost 64 years? That is pretty good sticktoitiveness. It sounds like grandma's life was simple and very happy.
After the service it was time to head to the cemetery. What was neat about the graveside service is that the only time on the trip that I saw the sun was when we were at Grandma Jo's graveside. The rest of the time there was during winter storms and blizzards. That says something to me...
My Grandpa Ray was the star of the show for the family lunch. That was pretty much it. Everybody trickled out and went back their separate ways. Darin and his family left not much later as they had a drive to get home and the rest of the Caldwell's went back to the hotel for naps. Eric and I stayed one more night and then headed back to home on Thursday. Of course we had to drive through a blizzard and white-out conditions again on the way back.
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