William Franklin Barker - my Father-in-law. Travis and I miss Bill terribly. Travis was adopted as a baby, but he always knew who his Father was. We learned a lot from Bill. He was so industrious, took good care of himself and his family, was a loving husband and did a lot of quiet service. I remember the first Christmas gift I got for Bill was a fishing T-shirt. At the time I didn't realize Bill didn't do T-shirts...I learned fast. Bill was all about the short sleeve button down, jeans, brown/black socks and loafers. Travis and I still laugh about the time we picked Bill up to go Mountain Biking with us and he was dressed in said uniform...Travis made him at least change into sneakers. I don't think I ever saw Bill get mad, Travis tells me it was possible, but he always seemed calm to me and he really loved his family. I know Travis drives by his resting place once in a while just to check-in. I had Bill in my life for too short a time, I would have enjoyed more opportunities to get the perfect Christmas gift for him.
My Grandparents - Joyce & Paul Strong (Mom's folks). I have many childhood memories of going to their home in Provo and especially playing in the deep gutters with the leeches (were those weird things leeches?). Every Thanksgiving was at the Strong's house. There was always a "cousin's table" - sometimes a pea fight and ALWAYS Grandma's O'Henries for desert anytime we went there. I really looked forward to those treats. Melissa makes them now and I will always think of Grandma Joyce when I eat them.
My Grandparents - Glen & Sybil Dana (Dad's folks). Grandpa was a card. He had this monkey puppet that he used to get out and use to talk to us with. My Dad inherited the monkey and brings it out for his small grand kids - he did this the other day with Amy's daughter Elle - she LOVED it. She thought it was amazing. Grandpa was also very talented - played the organ, harmonica and ukulele. Grandma Sybil, the Pink Grandma to us kids, was so elegant. I loved to visit her home at Christmas just to see her tree - it was BEAUTIFUL. Everything was perfect and lovely around Grandma Sybil.
My Dad w/monkey, Amy and Elle
Both sets of Trav's Grandparents are gone as well, but the two I knew were Grandmother Dunyon and Grandma Barker:
Grandmother Dunyon was an elegant, traditional lady who had this very fun sense of humor. She had this knack for really paying attention to you when you were with her. She would ask me a question and really listen to the answers and she always made me feel good about myself.
Grandma Barker was this cute little 4 foot jewel. She had this way of telling a story that cracked me up. She would get to the punch line or the juicy tid bit and just look at me, letting her eyes go round and big for emphasis, just to make sure I was getting the enormity of it all. I loved that.
We also lost Carol, Bill's sister, this past year. Carol took such great care of Grandma Barker for years. She was well traveled and also funny. I often regret that I did not know Carol as well as I could have, but she was such a great Aunt to her sibling's children and those that did take the time to know her were SUPER lucky to have her in their lives.
It is often said that Death is just another part of Life...aren't we all dieing? It is good to remember those we have loved and lost and today is a good reminder about how precious life is and how important it is to appreciate those we love and tell them often.
I Am Grateful,
HB
Diva Quote: "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." ~ Helen Keller
Sweet. I was telling the kids what we used to do on Memorial Day, go and visit the graves and put out flowers, remember seeing the rows and rows of flags? Then the big barbecues after? Wonder why you all don't still visit the graves? or maybe mom and dad do? Who knows, but my kids were like why? What for? They didn't really get it. I don't know if I got it at the time...I guess the best part of going through the effort of it all was that it got you talking about those loved ones that had passed on, recalling memories and stories together. As we can see with your post, you don't need to visit a grave plot to have a stroll down memory lane. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Mom and Dad would like us to go to the graves. It is interesting how that gets more important as the deaths around us get more personal. Travis goes to his Dad's grave, but not necessarily only or just because of Memorial Day. I remember those days of going to visit the graves in Provo - mostly getting in touble for running on the headstones and taking flowers out of vases. I did think the flags were cool.
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