Funerals

To say I hate funerals is a huge understatement. I think I developed the dislike years ago when I was very young and a family friends little twin son, maybe two years old, was run over by a car. It was the first time I had ever known someone to die. And it was hard. I was very young, 7 or 8, and I still remember how sad it all was. So I have never really liked them. Leading up to my dads funeral I just felt a sense of dread. I didn't want to do a funeral, especially for someone I loved so much, mainly because they are so sad. I knew we would have one though. And the weird thing is I knew I wanted to speak at the funeral. I knew it would be so hard for me. But I really thought no one in the world loved my dad as much as me and so I would definitely need to be one of the speakers. It turns out my brothers loved him too, probably just as much as me, and they all spoke as well.

 I guess what I want this most to say is that it felt like a celebration for my dad. We laughed and cried, but I think we laughed more, which is what he would have wanted. I think he would have been very happy with how is funeral turned out, especially since he did not really like funerals himself. His only complaints would have been that too many people cried and that everything was all about him. He would have loved the jokes and laughing. He would have loved his grandchildren singing. He would have loved all his kids speaking. He would have loved Mikila and Amanda playing a musical number. It really was such a great service.

We decorated the entry way in the church with a few of his things.

 Some things that I want to point out about my dad. He loved to play games. Even the last year when he was so sick he would almost always still play games with us. He would wake up in the mornings and ask my aunt Virginia, who was helping care for him so my mom could work, what game she wanted to lose at first. He asked everyday and they usually always played at least one game before he had to go to an appointment.

He always wore cheap velcro shoes. I bought him really nice shoes a couple of times for Christmas years ago and he would never wear them. He loved his velcro shoes. Anytime I see velcro shoes I think of my dad.

He wore a hat a lot. He loved to be busy doing things. Usually that meant being outside. I loved how he looked in his work hat and he wore that hat a lot.

He loved his family. We really don't have any pictures of my dad with anyone but family after he got married. He loved spending time with his family, immediate and extended, and it was always enough for him. He never needed anyone else.

He loved his tractor. He loved trains. He loved legos and/or any toy that you could build.

My brother Daniel designed the program and it turned out so nice.

Dan also put together a really nice picture slide show of my dad throughout the years.

His funeral turned out amazing. I loved that day. It was such a blessing to celebrate him and all the good he accomplished in his life. I just can't quite put into words how great of an experience it was for me personally. I learned a lot about my dad, from my brothers stories and from things people shared with us on this day. It is a day I will treasure forever. I wish I could sit and tell more stories about my dad and laugh and cry, it really was great.

His family on the funeral day.

 The funeral really was nice. So many people came and we felt so much support as his family. It was such a blessing. People from Oroville have been so kind to our family the past year and especially the past couple of weeks. I realized there is no one else I would rather have supporting me than the people form Oroville. What a blessing it is to have them all in our lives. Thank you to all who came out to support my dad. We sure loved him and I will forever miss his laugh and his teasing.