Grandma Grace Remembered

Grandma Grace's funeral was a spiritual and uplifting celebration of her 90 years of life as well as a Wallace Family Reunion. We saw cousins, aunts, and uncles who Brad has not seen in almost 20 years. Ken and his siblings rarely get together as they are all spread out across the United States. Ken is in Utah, Bruce in Arizona, Karen in Nebraska, and Larry in Texas. In fact, Ken and his brother, Larry, determined that they had seen each other only 5 times in the last 40 years. Despite their infrequent visits, their sibling bond was apparent, and I enjoyed watching Ken interact with his brothers and sister.

Ken Bruce, Karen, Larry

The funeral was in Salt Lake at the chapel in the neighborhood where Grandma lived for many years. The Bishop of the ward lived next door to Grandma for a period of time & shared that his 4-year-old daughter Grace, was named after Grandma Grace. Ken gave a beautiful talk at the funeral, remembering his mother and sharing his testimony of Christ's atonement. His brother Larry and sister Karen spoke as well and one of Karen's daughters sang "The Lord's Prayer" in a lovely, clear soprano voice, a request of Grandma's.

I was honored to play a piece on the piano. Grandma was a very accomplished pianist, and I was asked to play a song that was a favorite of hers, Liebestraum by Liszt. This was a song that Grandma played frequently during her life, and I knew I could not play it the way she did. I was not familiar with the piece and ended up playing a simplified version and pairing it with the hymn "More Holiness Give Me" - a favorite of Grandma's as well. I was very nervous about playing, and I knew that the only way I could do it well was with divine assistance. I was very blessed to feel the Spirit guiding my fingers as I played at the funeral. I also had a fleeting but sublime experience while practicing alone in the chapel at the church in Woodland prior to heading to Salt Lake. That experience gave me the impression that Grandma was there, helping me along as well.

Here are a few pictures from the cemetery. It was a little warm, and everyone huddled under a tree for shade, but it was still an absolutely beautiful day.

The Wallace grandchildren minus Kimmy & Russ' kids and the toddlers - Ben, Ellie, and Abby J

After the cemetery we returned to the church for a family meal. These are just a few of the pictures I took -

How I love these people - Brad, Casey, Ken, Judy, Jill, & Kimmy

Several of the grandchildren sat down to eat with grandma and granddad

Hannah (Casey's oldest daughter) & Lacey - Hannah is 2 months older than Lacey

The "Little" Benjamin B. Wallace meets the "Big" Benjamin Wallace. When Brad's cousin's family saw Ben, they called him Ben Jr. They said that their "Big" Ben looked just like our Ben (curly blonde hair and all) when he was our Benny Boy's age.

Aunt Kimmy with Casey & Aimee's youngest daughter, Abigail Judith (Abby J).

Ben followed Jamison (Aimee & Casey's youngest son) around, clearly admiring his big boy cousin - they are about 2 1/2 year apart, and I am sure they will be buddies one day. (I just have to say that I LOVE this picture because of the look on Ben's face. I think he looks so proud and thinks he's so cool to be hanging out with Jamison)

Cousins hanging out - we sure missed our Peterson cousins! Kimmy & Russ were without kids because Becca had a dance recital & Emma stayed to be with her & Shane & Dakota had to get ready for scout camp. It just wasn't the same without them!

Casey & Brad entertaining Ben - or was Ben entertaining them? Not sure . . .