Grandma Mona's Memorial

Last weekend, I flew to California for my mother's memorial. When I arrived in Petaluma at noon on Saturday, my Dad asked if I wanted to see the niche he and Vicki placed the urns and other memorabilia in earlier this month so we went to the cemetary. It looks very simple but dignified, just the way Mom would have wanted it. Kim and Matt stopped there, too and visited awhile before we went to Vicki's house for dinner. Friends of her's made a delicious meal and we had a great time and sharing memories and friendships. On Sunday, we returned to Vicki's house for breakfast and had a terrific meal that others had prepared for her and her family and friends. I took Kim and Matt to the Charles Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa at 10 AM and we had a good time looking at all the displays of the Peanuts comic strips and shows made over the years and left about 12:30 PM. We met at the church about 2 PM for the memorial and saw people we hadn't seen in several years which is good to do. If it wasn't for weddings and funerals or memorials family members would not see each other as often, I guess. After a prayer and scripture reading by the pastor (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4) and his commentary on it as it related to Mona and us, Dad read the eulogy he wrote, keeping his composure through it pretty well. Then several others, including me, my brother and sister and my daughter, Kim, spoke of our memories of mom and grandma. It was good to hear how mom touched the lives of all she met for good. The pastor finished his remarks by referencing Matthew 20:1-16 and how we are like the people in that parable. The final few minutes we watched and listened to a slide show (with her favorite song accompanying it) of photos with mom, her family and friends. Everyone that could stay had plenty of food and drink and time to socialize and share memories of Mona. My dad was very pleased how the memorial turned out and said it would have been just how she would've wanted it to be. What more could you ask for...