My Mom's Funeral...

Last week we kept really busy to produce a memorable funeral for my Mom. Dawn did an excellent job decorating the church with pictures and objects that reminded us all of the life of Kat Bean. It looked really good. On Wednesday we had a viewing and I couldn't believe the turn out. Holy cow!!! My Mom was really popular. The line stretched around the church and almost to the doors. It may have been out the doors at one point. It was about an hour and a half wait standing in that line. I saw a bunch of old friends of mine as well as some old neighbors that were great friends of my Mom and Dad. Though it was nice to see old faces, I couldn't enjoy myself. I felt very anxious all night and I just wanted to go for a drive or something.

On Thursday we had the funeral. It started with another viewing an hour before which had another huge turnout. Then we shut the doors for our final goodbyes. It was a very sad experience to know I was looking at my Mom's face for the last time. I placed her pin she received when I became an Eagle Scout in her hand and said my goodbyes. We closed the casket and the funeral began. Each of my siblings and I were asked to talk at the funeral. We each prepared a tribute for her. We gave them in chronological order starting with my oldest sister Jenn. In each of our speeches we said how we all thought of ourselves as our Mom's true best friend. It was an appropriate joke considering the fact that she was a best friend to each of us on unique and personal levels. My brother, Adam and I played the song he wrote for her in Peru. It was fun to play for a huge crowd. I don't think I've done that before. After we all delivered our tributes and the audience was nice and sad, we drove up to the cemetery. Adam dedicated the grave and we all placed our Livestrong bracelets on the casket. It was a nice day and the cemetery looked peaceful and calm. After the graveside service, we went back to the church for a lunch prepared by some ward members. By the time we were done eating we were all ready to just crash and sleep for the rest of the day. But we still had to clean up the church which brought me down. But we cleaned it fast and I went home and took a long nap. Busy day.









Thanks to everyone who came to show their support.