Another Funeral....And a long story to go with it.

Last Sunday, March 6, I got a call from my mom as I was getting ready for church. She was calling to let me know that my Grandma (LeeAnn Walker) had passed away the night before in her sleep. She had been in a rehab center since having a ruptured bowel and being put in intensive care a few weeks ago. She had been living alone for almost 30 years. My grandpa passed away from complications due to his diabetes when I was three. It was sad to see her go, but what a happy day for her to be reunited with her husband and finally freed from her failing body.

I still picture my grandma moseying through her house even though I know she's not there anymore. I'm a little regretful that I didn't make more effort to call her and keep in touch with her while I had the chance. I'm grateful that I have a few of her things to remember her by. I have a blanket from her house and I don't know that I'll wash it for quite some time, because I like that it smells like her house.

Due to some confusion/miscommunication, or possibly a little of both, my family headed down to St. George for the funeral the very day that we found out about her passing with the understanding that the funeral was Tuesday. After a lot of confusion, and a bit of sibling arguing, the funeral was moved to Friday. Thus, the Welch's had a whole week to fill in St. George. We managed to fill our time. We shopped a bit. Hung about my Grandma's house. And did a little cleaning out and organizing while we were there.

I got some great little keepsakes to bring home with me. I got my Grandma's sugar bowl, which it turns out was a wedding gift given to my mom that ended up in my Grandma's possession. I always liked it. It's totally 70's and has a white woven basked look on the bottom with a green leaf lid and red strawberry handle and a cute little spoon. (I'd take a picture but our camera is undergoing repair.) I also got some sea shells and some really nice jewelery. I think my favorite is a silver chain that just screams "Grandma wore this". I also got a really old hair clip and some funky old clip on earrings that you have to tighten with a little screw. It was so fun to see her wedding dress and hold it up to me and realize that her waist was easily 6-8 inches smaller than mine currently is.

(She had drawers full of jewelery that we had fun sorting through. A lot of it was "costume jewelery" according to her, but she had a few sets of pearls, several diamonds, amethysts, and a few cameos.)

And now to share some of my favorite memories/stories of my Grandma Walker....

* She was always very proper. She was raised by a very proper mother. I always especially noticed this during meal times. For example, when I was with her last fall, and we were having cold cereal and toast for breakfast, the table was set properly before we could eat. The cereal, milk, and toast was put on the table and we waited for everyone to eat together. She was always like that.

*My Grandma had narcolepsy. This was sad, funny, and scary all at the same time. It was terrifying to drive with her. She got picked up once for drunk driving when I was in the car with her when I was a little girl. (I think that's the last time my parents let her drive me around town.) She loved to play games with the family. But she had to be woken up every time it was her turn. She was a beautician and my mom swears she once saw my grandma cut a woman's hair while sleeping.

*My grandma loved to shop. In fact while we were cleaning out her closets we found TONS of clothes...several with the tags still on. Her favorite phrase while shopping was, "Well that's fun!" (Meaning cute of course.)

*My grandma was a bit spoiled. I think this came along with her proper upbringing. She tells the story of when my grandpa first asked her out and didn't do it right, she informed him that when he wanted a date with her he would do it the right way. Unfortunately, I don't remember what the right way was.

*My grandma cut my hair until I was married. I seriously can think of maybe 10 times in my life until that point that she wasn't the one that cut my hair. Even when we lived in Boise and she was in Salt Lake, she still cut my hair every time I visited.

*My grandma loved crosswords. I think she did them every day. She was always working on one and there were always several laying around her house.

*My grandma was a painter. She taught me a few art lessons when I was little. If I'm lucky I'll get her little painting of a flower I had my mom claim as we were cleaning out her house.

*My Grandma was a city girl who, as soon as she got married, moved to a farm and a little farm house in Burley, Idaho. From what I understand she adjusted to farm life, but went to beauty school while there to escape it a bit.

*My Grandma had the same birthday as Owen. I'm grateful that they were able to celebrate one birthday together at my house while they were both alive. That will be a special memory for me.

Her funeral was very nice. Although it was sad to see her in her casket. She just didn't look like herself. Lots of family traveled to be there for her. Even her nieces, nephews, and sisters came from out of town. All of her kids spoke at the funeral and I think they all did a really good job.
All of her grandchildren but one were at the funeral (Michael was missing). Here are most of us. There were supposed to be 23 of us, but somehow we're a few short in this picture. After the funeral on Friday morning we all headed to Burley for the burial the next morning. I was amazed at how many people from Burley showed up for that as well. It was fun to see faces that I hadn't seen since I was a little kid. She was buried in the Pella cemetery next to my grandpa. The cemetery is literally in the middle of farmland and nothing else. Which was kind of nice because the younger kids could play a bit. Emmie even wandered into a muddy field and fell in the mud....I'm a very observant mother.

Most of the family was able to make the drive to Burley.

It's sad, but kind of a nice thought to think of my grandparents bodies there together in Burley where they raised there family over 30 years ago.