Grandpa Keith's Funeral

Back in July Taylor's Grandpa Keith was diagnosed with cancer and was not given the longest time to live. While we all figured out pretty fast that his time left here was short I think the sting of his passing away still hurt more than expected.

He passed away on August 9th and his funeral was August 13th. We headed down to Bancroft on the 13th not really knowing what to expect as we were pretty much out of the loop on everything that was planned, but we arrived to a nice service with tons of family members in attendance. I loved getting to hear stories about his Grandpa Keith that I had not previously heard before. I think my personal favorite was how he and his wife met :)

Following the service we headed to the grave. So, this leads nicely into a funny story. When we first got to the church that day Taylor had a rose given to him by one of his brothers and I pinned it on him. We just assumed he's family so he gets it? Apparently it actually meant that he was a pallbearer. So, he helps carry the casket out to the hearse and then we head to our car to travel to the cemetery. On the way to our car Hudson hit Taylor's flower with his leg which damaged it a bit. Having no clue what was expected of Taylor he took the flower off on the way to the cemetery. I told him he would probably want it because he would have to carry the casket to the grave. (He claims to have never have heard me say this) Taylor helped carry the casket to the grave and then all the pallbearers stood in a line and one by one they removed their flower and placed it on the casket. (Maybe this happens at all funerals? I have no idea) I was standing by his cousin, Emily, and we were both trying not to laugh as I told her what happened and then watched Taylor not have a flower to place on the casket.

the pallbearers 

We also would have had Taylor grab his suit coat had we known he would be doing this haha..

Afterwards, the ward had a little luncheon for all of the family members back at the church. By then it was 2, we were starving, and Hudson was way past naptime so we were very grateful to be fed and have a chance to visit with family.

I am so very grateful for the chance that I have had the last 3 and a half years that I have been married to Taylor to get to know his Grandpa Keith. It makes me sad to know that Hudson and the rest of our children will never have a chance to get to know their Great Grandpa Keith, but it definitely brings comfort to know that he is looking down on us and watching over us.