Two trips to Arizona

Sometime in April, I was looking at the calendar in my Mom's kitchen. I noticed that she had a trip scheduled to Arizona over Mother's Day weekend. I asked her, "You're going to be gone for Mother's Day?" She told me that she was going to be spending Mother's Day with HER mother, because it was probably her last one. I looked at her and said, "What?!! What do you mean it's Grandma's last one?" She explaned that Grandma Cook had been to the doctor that week and was told that she should begin work on her "bucket list." A few hours later I too had a plane ticket booked to spend Mother's Day with Grandma Cook. We had a wonderful time. It was such a blessing to be able to spend Mother's Day in the role of the daughter and granddaughter, instead of the mother. We went shopping, ate Mexican food, and just enjoyed being together. I was able to visit my "oldest" friend, Michelle, meaning we've been friends since birth, not actually that she is the oldest. :)

Our moms were visiting teaching companions when they were pregnant with us.

Throughout the weekend, my grandmother kept telling me how grown up I was. She said , "If you're so grown up and mature, no wonder I'm so old!" It was a choice time to be together, to remember our fun times, and say those words that are in our hearts, but not often expressed. I walked around her house and touched those things I remember from my childhood. I saw the books she used to read me, the yard we used to play in, the table where we had Christmas dinner. As I prepared Mother's Day lunch, I recalled how many meals she had made for me. I watched her clean her plate and tell me what a good cook I had become. We attended church together, where she was known and loved by many. She drove herself there every week, leaving Relief Society a few minutes early, as her portable oxygen tank lasted only three hours. When it came time to leave, it was so hard to say goodbye, knowing that I would probably not see her again in this life. She told me she loved me and called me "her beautiful brown eyed Cat." (I was her only brown eyed grandchild for many years.)

On Labor Day, we got the call that Grandma Cook had passed away. It shoudn't have been a shock, but it was. In my mind she was always the spunky lady who wanted to ride Space Mountain one more time at Disneyland, not the frail grandmother I had visited in May. We made arrangements and I was able to fly to Arizona with my Dad and Sister for the funeral. We joined by much family, including all 19 of my Grandma's grandchildren, traveling from all over the country. No one wanted to miss the opportunity to pay their last respects to the amazing woman who taught us so much. The spirit was strong at the funeral, as each of her four children spoke. Her legacy is truly her family. She was a wonderful example a wife and mother. She loved and sacrificed so much. I cannot say enough about this woman who (along with my grandfather) raised my mother. She will be missed, but her teachings and testimony live on in her children.

What a posterity!

All the grandchildren sang the closing song, "Angels Among Us". I tried to keep from crying, but it's hard to sing while biting your bottom lip!

During the funeral, Christine sat next to me and Chad with a box of tissues. We didn't bring a trash can, so we placed the used ones in a pile on the floor at our feet. It was a mountain by the end. I could have used a rain coat! We get our crying gene from our grandmother. (along with the shoe gene.)

We Love you, Grandma and Grandpa!