Both joy and grief often seem to go hand in hand in life. My sweet, precious, mother dear passed away recently; she had lived a valiant life and was mercifully taken back to Heaven once again to be with her eternal sweetheart, my dad :) Mom taught me so many important life lessons and reared our family with great love and affection. It was a most spiritual experience as she passed away as I held her hand and stroked her forehead; the details too tender to share via my blog. Suffice it to say I miss her terribly yet know that she and dad are once again dancing together in Heaven, thrilled to be together having enjoyed 63 years of marriage which was very happy and thrived not simply survived, while during mortal life. They now have eternity together!
It was such an honor to plan a beautiful funeral service for her. Jon conducted and gave her life sketch; he did a fabulous job! Ashley sang a magnificent piece "Be Still My Soul" accompanied by my cousin/sister Loraine. I then spoke paying tribute to mom's remarkable life focused on serving others and based on her cheerful personality and loving soul. It was a pleasure to share so many delightful stories about her and of her influence on me and our family. Loraine and her daughter Mindy then performed a lovely violin/piano medley followed by remarks by Cameron; he was incredible! His remarks were geared toward understanding God's plan for all of His children and the legions of individuals just beyond the veil between mortal life and death who are routing for the success of all of us on this earth. I am very proud of my remarkable family to have been able to speak and sing in an attempt to comfort and uplift others in attendance rather than our family being the recipients of such! It was a memorable experience for each of us and I'm sure my father and mother dear (as I used to always call her) were touched and very pleased.
We will always hold dear those we refer to as our "earth angels" who ministered to mom throughout the three years up to her passing. My incredible aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who attended to her constantly and helped her know how treasured and loved she was; although because she was such a cheerful, quick witted person I think more times than not she was the one raising others spirits! :) Also, to her remarkable care givers from Beehive who each became so attached to mom she became like a mother/grandmother to each of them. I have seen caregivers become attached to their patients but I have NEVER experienced anything to this depth and degree before! They loved my mom. They loved her cheerful spirit and upbeat, comical, sense of humor and loving personality. They took expert care of her and pampered her continually. How blessed we have been to be surrounded by so many caring, giving individuals - both family and now extended family!
On a very joyous note Ashley and Paul became engaged this past week! Paul came home with Ashley in July to hang out with us, meet her friends and get a feel for her life growing up here in Pennsylvania. We had a fabulous time with them both, so much fun creating new, exciting memories. It was during this trip that Paul talked to me about marrying our daughter and officially asked Jon's permission to do so :)
On Friday morning at 2:30 am east coast time Ash called us very excited about Paul's sweet, intimate, tender, very personal proposal. How he chose to do this as they stood on a mountain top in Utah overlooking the valley below them with the blaze of night lights twinkling up at them was very touching! He put a lot of thought into this special moment and literally surprised her sweeping her off of her feet! :) - This is all I will share via my blog.
I am looking forward to flying out in a week to begin the process of planning for a magical wedding for the two of them, reflective of their personalities. And by the way, my mother dear gave Paul a thumbs up telling him to take care of Ashley :) Our family is very excited for the two of them and looking forward to the wonderful life they will be creating together in the not too distant future.
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