My sweet Grandma Andersen passed away on August 23. We'd just barely gotten to see her when we were in Utah (back
HERE) and were so grateful for that visit. She caught a cold right after we saw her and couldn't fight it I guess. She was 98 after all! Since we had just made the drive as a family and Millie was back in school and Tyler had just taken time off of work for the reunion, we decided that I would go myself. I ended up getting to drive up along with my parents, Steph, Tim, and cousin Whitney and her baby. It was basically an adults road trip and tons of fun. Lots of great chats in the car about everything.
We were there in Utah for such a short amount of time. We got to Orem about an hour before the viewing started (just enough time to change clothes and freshen up after 2 days in the car haha) and were there for a few hours. It was amazing how many of my cousins and family members were there. We were all commenting how rare it was to have so many of us together. Elder Christofferson and his wife also came, they were so sweet and it was neat to meet them. After the viewing we grabbed some Cafe Rio and hung out with cousins for a while. My parents rented a house in American Fork so my immediate family all slept there.
The next morning was the funeral. It was a beautiful service. The chapel and gym were busting at the seams and probably 80% of who was there was her posterity. All of Grandma's living children spoke or sang. I was reminded that it doesn't matter how old you are or how old your parents are, it is still sad to say goodbye to them. I was also reminded in a poignant way that families can be eternal, and the relationships we work so hard to build and maintain on this earth will last. I'm so grateful for that. I also learned things about my sweet grandma that I never knew (both in the funeral and in reading her short autobiography on the drive up) and am excited to get to know her better when I see her again. Her memory started to fade when I was a little girl so I didn't know her the way I would have liked to.
We went to the cemetery afterwards and I was touched by my dad and all my uncles as pallbearers. My dad gave a beautiful prayer, dedicating this final resting place for her body.
It was fun to see all my siblings again. Long time, no see!
There was a luncheon for family at the church building afterward. This was quite an undertaking! 5 different wards helped. Such a sweet act of service. We got to eat and enjoy time visiting, as well as listen to my aunts sing a few songs. They always ended up singing together at reunions or any family gathering growing up, and hearing them is one of my favorite things.
We got all of the cousins together for a picture. I think we had almost 90 out of the 104! It was amazing.
The visiting moved to the family park for several of us. There were volleyball games and ultimate frisbee and lots of fun going on, some of us running out for dinner at different points. Once it got dark a few of us made a Chip run for some cookies and stayed up late visiting. I haven't been to an extended Andersen reunion since we moved to Texas so I knew I wouldn't see many of my cousins again for a long time.
The next morning we got up bright and early to make the drive back. We stopped in St. George for a few minutes of a sacrament meeting and other than that made it back as quickly as we could. It was a whirlwind trip and I was so thankful to be able to go!
