Opa

I walked down to the cemetery and met my dad to put some flowers on graves.  We visited my grandparents' graves and Dad told me stories of many of my relatives.  I hear these stories periodically, but it's good to be reminded.  Dad had two uncles, John and Seymour, who died on the same day, and they were young, maybe in their 40's.  He had a cousin who died in a car accident on her way home from the junior prom.  One family lost all three young sons in an accident in the 1940's.  All these stories were once somebody's unbearable reality, and still so tragic.

Coco and Bill and Nana and I took some of the kids to visit Opa's grave and Aunt Pat's grave in Bountiful.  Opa was the light of everybody's life.  He was big and kind and gentle and loving.  In my violin shop, I have a 6-foot-tall portrait of him as a young boy, dressed in knickers and a perfectly pressed shirt, playing the violin.  He also played the organ and had an art studio in his home, which was open to any and all grandchildren who wanted to paint.  He was larger than life, so much so that it's hard to accurately describe how wonderful Opa was, how I love him and how much I wish I could wrap my arms around his strong waist again.  Since his death, I have felt his presence in my life on many important occasions, and I know he has a role as a protector of his family from behind the veil. 

For all the wonderful experiences I had with Opa before he died, the one I treasure the most came years after he died.  In 2000, I was pregnant and I had a dream that I was walking up my street holding a little boy's hand.  Opa came and took the boy's tiny hand and floated away with him.  The next day, I had a miscarriage.  The "Opa dream" I had was, and is, a comfort to me that everything is taken care of and everything is right.  I feel blessed to know that Opa's strong hands and strong, faithful intellect are still serving to bless his family.  It's so nice to have Memorial Day as a time set aside to remember where we came from and who helped us get here.  I'm grateful!