Grandma's funeral – the (mostly) happy part

After Grandma died, the relief was palpable. We were still sad, of course, especially as my cousins and my dad and brother started to arrive, but at least we had things to do other than grieve.

As I said, people brought over tons of food for the family, which was much appreciated, as we were so busy there was no way we could prepare food for 20+ people! I believe Miranda and Serin made this darling edible flower bouquet.

Grandma had told me years ago that she wanted Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (which also happens to be my favorite hymn) sung at her funeral. I bought the Mack Wilburg arrangement quite some time ago and brought it along. It is for 8-part voice, so it was a challenging piece to put together in a short time, but I think it was cool that we had a big family musical number. Plus, it was a lot of fun.

We did a lot of cooking and baking. I love this picture of my mom wearing this adorable red apron.

I got nominated to make the Triple Caramel Cake. I really did not want to make it, as the only other time I tried, it didn't turn out very well. But since I was the only one who had ever made it at all, they nominated me anyway.

Seriously. This was one I would like to have thrown across the room. (Grandma was known to do that occasionally when she was really made about one of her cakes.)

Somehow the oven got turned off in the middle of baking. But still. People still wanted to eat the cake guts, so we put them on a plate. Grandpa walked in and saw the mess and said, "You ought to take a picture of that and call it 'the first cake after Charlotte died.'"

That made me laugh so hard, I wasn't so mad about the cake anymore. It was so good to see that he hadn't lost his sense of humor.

Emily is one of those rare people who actually like plain celery. (Maybe that has something to do with her tiny figure.) She was wearing one of Grandma's sweaters, which is so cute it actually gave me pains. How many 83-year-old women have clothes and shoes that their grandchildren covet? I mean, really.

The display in the foyer on the day of the funeral.

The flowers were gorgeous. I am still amazed that a florist made an arrangement about which my mother said she wouldn't change a thing.

I was also swooning over my mom's sweater. You can see that covetous clothing runs in the family.

The funeral service was just beautiful. Lee gave the eulogy, Charlotte and Emily did a piano/violin duet of Love is Spoken Here that had me crying throughout. My uncle Mark gave a talk about how Grandma's life was framed by the gospel, their home teacher spoke, and the stake president gave a very moving talk and mentioned that Grandma wouldn't have done anything differently in the last days of her life had she known she was about to die. (We learned that she told Grandpa about a week before her collapse that she didn't think she had very many days left. Too bad she didn't notify the rest of us!)

the pallbearers

Grandma had loved a funeral she attended where there was a big luncheon after the service for all the attendees – before going to the cemetery.

Denise asked friends to make some of Grandma's cakes (we made some also), as well as chicken salad and rolls, and we had big bowls of strawberries.

It was all delicious, and I think Grandma would have been very pleased by the whole affair.

Ryan tucked a stray orchid in his glasses. (He borrowed a suit from Grandpa and it fit him perfectly!)

This just kind of seemed to sum it up.

Miranda and I wanted to take a self-portrait, but my arms are too short to do one with my big camera, so her husband took a picture of us. Man, it's humbling to be in photos with cute girls.

Her daughter Azalea is just the cutest thing. Can you tell she was tired?

Mom's purse was filled with damp tissues. It seems the crying will go on forever.

The men in the family.

The women in the family.

My parents and siblings. (Do you love that Jessie and I ended up with dresses in different colorways of the same print?)

Family members looking at some of the pictures of Grandma that were scattered around the tables.

Charlotte and Josh watching the slide show that Patti put together.

one of the centerpieces

Jessie crammed in the car with floral arrangements.

This is my beautiful grandmother, Charlotte Jane Hunter Petersen. Marc took this picture of us a couple of years ago when we went to Denver for Thanksgiving.

I hate it so much that I can't call her on the phone anymore. It just seems plain wrong. Denise said that she thinks maybe Grandma can do more for us now that she's on the other side of the veil. That's a comforting thought. I am so grateful for every day I was blessed to spend with her, every conversation. She had such style, such refinement, yet she was also gritty. She served others, and she loved the Savior. She loved us unconditionally, and that love is the best gift I have ever received. Her wisdom and influence are never-ending.