This week there were two days (April17 and 18) devoted to saying goodbye to Evelyn’s earthly remains and celebrating and honoring her life.
Monday we worked on preparing for the funeral more.I don’t remember there being so much or it feeling so consuming when we planned Roberta’s. Maybe because Evelyn was more my person? Maybe because this is the end of the Cranes sisters? Maybe because she left some pretty good instructions on what she wanted done?
In going through things in the house we found a record Evelyn had recorded and sent to her family while she was on her mission. I bought a record player so we could listen to it. It was so cool. Her voice is so young and perky. It is a treasure. It was neat to hear how she was in her younger days and that she didn’t change much as she got older. She had similar interests her whole life.
At 4pm, most of the women of the family- my mom, Aunt Stephaine, Aunt Maridean, Aunt Melodee, Marian, Ali, Clara, Lucy and me, went to the mortuary to dress Evelyn for her casket and funeral on Tuesday. It was beautiful to see her body surrounded by a lot of the ladies that she had such an influence on. It was everything I thought it would be. So hard and gut wrenching but beautiful, tender and even sacred. Oh, how so miss that lady.
Tuesday was the funeral. Having it on a weekday made it hard for people with work to attend. I was surprised at the range of people who came to the viewing and funeral. It was a great tribute to Evelyn. I think it checked almost all of the boxes for what she wanted, except for time. We went over on time but I figured we would with the amount of speakers she wanted and not using a timer. There was thunder and lightning, at the beginning which was really funny because Evelyn hated thunder and lightning storms and would hide during them. Lilly sang Goin Home and did a beautiful job. In fact I have been frustrated since the funeral because I can’t find a version on the song that I like as much as hers. It gave me comfort throughout the week as it replayed in my head. I think everyone did a nice job speaking and captured Evelyn, glossing over her difficult parts but mentioning them and emphasized the good and how she influenced us all. I was a lot more emotional than I had hoped to be. I thought that with all the time and ups and downs I would be okay. Maybe because of all the ups and downs, it all seemed surreal. It finally happened and we were finally there at her funeral. All in all it was a very nice day and a great time with family.
The dedication of the grave was quick. The wind was blowing and cold so business was taken care of but no one really lingered. We headed back to the church for the luncheon pretty quickly.
Evelyn and Roberta always had a cookie jar on their counter. They would often say, “Take a cookie on the way out!” Gail Robinson, who is a family friend and ward member had the idea of cookie jars for the center pieces on the tables. It was so perfect and an extra touch I really appreciated. It made me want to be more thoughtful when I help at funerals in my ward.
The pictures are in no particular order for the events of the two days. They get to stay that way for now. Maybe sometime I will add words as well.
Comments