We Said Goodbye to Aaron

Monday morning Karen called me at work and told me that her Dad had died.  It wasn't expected or unexpected, but Karen was with him when he died, and that was unexpected.

Sunday I'd brought the priests over to give Aaron the sacrament and that was very special.  Matt Vigil was one of the priests and he was at the funeral.  I mentioned it to him and he said that he'd already thought about it and was glad he'd been able to administer the sacrament for him the last time.

Aaron was a very special father and father-in-law.  At lunch I shared with Shawn, Barry and the twins how shortly after Karen and I were married Aaron told me about how people had asked him if he was worried about me marrying his daughter, and he told me that he'd told them that people could change.  I know that he'd had to convince Norma that things would work out with me marrying her daughter.  I always thought that he was in my corner in the Bond Family.

The thing about LDS Funerals is they always seem to be a joyous/sad event.  Joyous because they are like a family reunion, sad because we are not going to get to meet or talk to Aaron again in this life.  However, Kiki and Chio came from Texas.  Teandra flew in from Indiana.  Chantel took some time off from school, and her "friend" Brian came out.  Iwalani is always here so all my girls are together again and I decided to take off work so I get to spend time with them so that's joyous for me.  Shawn's family all came, without wives, which is sad because I like their spouses, and Kelsey and Josh brought their kids.  Greg and Donna brought their kids, and Rachel brought little Carson "CB" Ethington.  Carson is the cutest kid.  He's small for his age so you don't think he can walk then suddenly he pops up and takes off walking like a pro.  "CB" stands for Charlie Brown because he has this round little tow head, just like Kiora used to have, except he has more hair that Kiora had.  Shaun and Rachel came down and Darby and Eddie brought their kids.  So it's like a family reunion and a lot of fun but it's a sad occasion as well.

Writing this gives me some insights, as the last few funerals have given me insights.  First, I used to suppose that those on the other side were not lonely, but why wouldn't they be?  I suppose Aaron will miss Karen as much as Karen misses him.  Second, we're having a good time with family and reminiscing and I suppose Aaron's having a "family reunion" on the other side as well where Aaron will be having a good time as well meeting people he hasn't seen in a very, very long time, and he could be telling Jaden about his Mom and how special she is.

I believe the phrase is "on Earth as it is in Heaven."

The funeral was a good one.  Greg did a great job on the eulogy.  He got the tone just right especially about Linda.  He said that Aaron meeting and marrying Linda was a miracle, and that she probably saved his life.  I'll always be grateful to Linda for what she did for Aaron, and I'm pretty sure that Karen feels similarly.  I remember the first time Aaron saw Linda.  He was introducing me as a speaker at a single adult activity, and he forgot my name.  He later said that as soon as he saw Linda he forgot everything else, including my name.  Apparently he'd had a dream of a woman and Linda was that dream.

Now we enter a new phase in our family and I'm not sure how it's going to work.  I guess we've always been a blended family, but now I'm beginning to realize it.  Here's a perfect example of what I mean.  Tonight I was talking to Chantel, and said that she was now down to one grandparent, but she didn't say anything.  I asked her how many grandparents that she thought she had and she said two right away.  I then asked Kiora how many she had and she said one right away, meaning that she doesn't really think that Linda is her grandmother but Chantel does.

We're going to treat Linda as a part of the family.  We always had to be sure that we told Linda what was going on with our family if we wanted Aaron and her to show up.  If we invited Aaron he never came.  We never figured that one out.  Anyway we're going to tell Linda (Nan) that she's invited to come over to our family dinners every 2nd and 4th Sunday, just like she and Aaron have always been invited.  Chantel is an adult and she'll invite her grandmother to whatever is going on in her life.  Karen see's Linda more as a friend than a mother, someone she's grateful for what she did for her father.