Laid to Rest.....

We picked up Elsa in her beautiful handmade in Oregon Mrytle Wood Urn and then picked up Bill....we made our way to the Willamette National Cemetery.  We had a very small gathering with family...Bill's older brother, Don and his daughter Mary Alice, Bill's sister Dorine and husband Don, along with three of their daughters, Lori, Debbie and Nancy.  Our girls, Dina,husband Jamie; Lacey, husband Aaron and all six great grandchildren; John, Robin, Scott and myself.  It was perfect...drizzling just a bit as we walked from the car to the site...she is in a "wall"...near 450 (which is easy for us to remember because that is our address!) and then it stopped raining.  We placed the urn into the space and each of the older children placed their memory stories into the vault with Elsa.  Bill placed a rose inside...then it was closed and sealed.  ......

We gathered close and said the Lord's Prayer together....Ellie read her memory story and Lacey read a poem she wrote....then we said the Lord's Prayer one more time...We all hugged and cried and hugged some more.  Then we headed to Red Robin for some food and more good times.  It was so nice to share this time with other family that we don't see nearly often enough.  And the addition of the children at Red Robin was a very nice distraction for Bill...they were well behaved and they added that element of mischief, but also the warming touch only children can give...

Bill is home now taking a nap...John will take care of the evening meal with him and stay over night.  I suspect we will be taking turns with dinner for a while...it is good to get him out of the house....

Thank you all for checking back in and remember about the Celebration of Elsa's Life on Sunday November 27 from 1 - 5 pm.  Scott and Colleen's house...450 Twilight Trail, West Linn, Or  97068....if you need to call us:  503.754.6303 Scott's cell or my cell 503.754.6192....we eliminated our land line when we moved into the new home...

Our family members were so kind to bring evergreens...a Nordic tradition and flowers...and a boutoniere for each of us.  There has been a saying in this family forever:  "You get what you give"...well, that was too many letters for the engraving...we were limited with the number of characters...so Scott thought...and thought...and came up with the absolutely next best phrase that really exemplifies the life lived, shared and modeled by Bill and Elsa:  "Love Given....Love Returned"...Perfect!!

Ellie and Lily consoling "Papa Bill"