Grandma Belcher's funeral was the first event of the new year, unfortunately. But she was ready to go and we are all glad that she's where she's been wanting to go for many years. It was on the 3rd of January and we had the services at the Heil Building in Huntington Beach. This was my first funeral and it wasn't as sad as I thought it would be.
I had had a difficult time making it to California for the funeral. For several days I was trying to find a way to get a notorized letter giving Leo's permission for me to travel alone with Tiago, but we found out on Saturday the 29th of December, there was no way I could get a letter on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday (because Monday and Tuesday were New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and nobody would be in the office), and then I had to leave on Wednesday. So I had to leave Tiago with Leo and have Leo, Denhi and his family help take care of him.
I was to leave on Wednesday morning around 8:30 and arrive in the early afternoon, in time to meet with all the other grandchildren at Grandma's house to pick out stuff that we wanted to keep. However, after waiting in line for what seemed like forever, I got up to the ticket counter and the agent pointed out that I didn't have my passport with me, I had grabbed Tiago's. My blood went cold as I realized I wouldn't make the flight. I called Leo and had him rush down to the airport (I had taken a taxi b/c we didn't want to wake Tiago up at 5:30 in the morning). But he didn't make it in time and I had to fly on standby to Atlanta and then fly standby from Atlanta to LA, thank goodness I made it onto the first flight from each place, but I still didn't get into California until around 11:00 at night.
The funeral itself was nice, I got to see some family that I hadn't gotten to see at Thanksgiving, like Staci, Jason and the kids, and they could all see that I was recovering from the depression I had gone through in November. I also got to see Lisi and Jake again which was nice because now that Lisi's married, I'm not going to see them as often!
I had always wanted to play the piano for my grandma's funeral, because it was on her piano that I learned how to play the hymns. I would pass hours playing most of the hymns in the hymnbook in order, never realizing that I was building up a skill that would come in handy for me. So for the viewing, I sat at the piano and played comforting hymns.
Grandma looked beautiful in the casket. She looked peaceful and happier than she'd been in years. She was no longer in pain and she was finally reunited with her husband, a day she'd been waiting for for 35 years. She had been a widow longer than she had been married.
As I was playing the piano, Lexi (Staci's daughter) asked my mom to go up with her to look at Grandma. She's about 4 years old at this time and when they got to the front and saw Grandma's torso in the half-open casket, she asked my mom in her loud, cartoonish voice "What happened to Grandma's legs?" So that made my mom laugh, and of course I did too when she told me the story.
After the viewing, we went in for the funeral and I played the piano for the services. Lisi sang "I Believe" by Kory Kunz and I played a piano arrangement of "Families Can Be Together Forever." Because we can. It was Grandma who I remember most teaching me about the Plan of Salvation, showing me the diagram and explaining what happens to us. She would do this and tell me that she would be with Grandpa Belcher again in the next life. I wanted to play that song as a testimony and also as a thank-you to Grandma. In a way, I also wanted to remind my inactive cousins that there is a plan, that the Church is true and why won't they come back?
After the services were over, we drove to Westminster Memorial to hold the graveside service for Grandma. Dad dedicated the grave and then we were free to mingle and share memories of Grandma. Lisi couldn't stop crying, she was very affected by Grandma's death. I on the other hand, had prepared myself for a while that this was going to happen. I am going to miss her, but I am also happy for her because I know that she wasn't living a full happy life the way she was for the past couple of years after her stroke. I'm so glad she is finally with her husband again, and I can't wait to see her again.
We went back to the Heil building where my cousin Lindsay's boyfriend, JJ had catered lunch for us. He is the owner of El Azteca restaurant on Main Street in Garden Grove, with all of its Elvis memorabilia. So it was after lunch when we took advantage of the majority of the family being together to take pictures. Todd was the only grandchild that couldn't make it down, he is a manager at Best Buy in Fort Collins, Colorado, and of course New Year's is one of their busiest times so he couldn't make it. It was also during this lunch while we were pigging out on Joy Cook's delicious carrot cake (she says she used Grandma's recipe, Grandma was famous for her carrot cake, but it wasn't Grandma's recipe...oh well!) and cheesecake, that I found out about the challenge that Aunt Sheila, Meghan, Staci, Amanda and a couple of Aunt Sheila's friends had set up. Each person contributed $50 to a pot and whoever loses the largest percentage of body weight by June 1st will get all the money. I intend to win. So I didn't have the cheesecake at the funeral. :)
So are some more pictures we took.
Aunt Sheila and my Mom
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