I still can't believe she is gone. I wanted to go to Utah and have her be there at the door with her hands waving in front of her, so excited to greet us. I loved her smile and her hugs and her pats. We felt her there though. The funeral was beautiful. The crowded viewing was evidence of how much she was loved. People were lined up outside an hour before the viewing began, despite the falling snow. She had an influence on so many people's lives. I am so lucky to call her my grandma. I hope I can be a mother and a grandmother like her.
After the viewing, we had a family prayer before the casket was closed. Uncle Steven Dewey gave the prayer and we all felt Grandma's spirit. It was a very spiritual experience. Families are eternal. After the viewing, we were all pretty solemn. We went over the Grandma's house because we just all wanted to be together longer. We started telling stories and laughing, then Collyn's new husband started singing "mormon drinking songs" waving his diet coke back and forth like a pirate. I thought I was going to die. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. We all needed that. It felt really good to laugh again. I know Grandma was happy to see us all having a good time together at her house. We missed her!
Things that stood out to me at the funeral...
Emily said that her mom never cared about being popular or cool. She never saw her dressed immodestly and she was the best mother and mother-in-law.
Dad said that everyone told him he had an angel mother and now he literally does.
All the daughters told of how she would sing to them about the meadowlarks. She would sing thier names in the song. I thought that was so sweet. I need to ask my aunts how she sang it so it won't skip another generation. It's interesting that eventhough the men carry on the last name, there is so much lost from their childhood and thier mother's legacy because it is the mother who makes a home, not so much the father. The Donna Sandstrom household was much different than the Heather Sandstrom household. My mom learned from her mom and that's how we were raised. I learned a lot about my grandma from my aunts at her funeral. I want to learn more so that her legacy can live on even in her boy's family. My other cousins knew all her songs and all her stories and all her recipes. I only knew the songs that she sang to me and the stories she told to me and the recipes I asked for.
The burial is always sad - so final, once again. It was a perfect day for Grandma. The snow started to gently fall during the burial and "her mountain" was covered with snow - just the way she liked it. Her friends tied a huge white bow on her tree. It made the house look special - like someone was loved.
After the viewing, we had a family prayer before the casket was closed. Uncle Steven Dewey gave the prayer and we all felt Grandma's spirit. It was a very spiritual experience. Families are eternal. After the viewing, we were all pretty solemn. We went over the Grandma's house because we just all wanted to be together longer. We started telling stories and laughing, then Collyn's new husband started singing "mormon drinking songs" waving his diet coke back and forth like a pirate. I thought I was going to die. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. We all needed that. It felt really good to laugh again. I know Grandma was happy to see us all having a good time together at her house. We missed her!
Things that stood out to me at the funeral...
Emily said that her mom never cared about being popular or cool. She never saw her dressed immodestly and she was the best mother and mother-in-law.
Dad said that everyone told him he had an angel mother and now he literally does.
All the daughters told of how she would sing to them about the meadowlarks. She would sing thier names in the song. I thought that was so sweet. I need to ask my aunts how she sang it so it won't skip another generation. It's interesting that eventhough the men carry on the last name, there is so much lost from their childhood and thier mother's legacy because it is the mother who makes a home, not so much the father. The Donna Sandstrom household was much different than the Heather Sandstrom household. My mom learned from her mom and that's how we were raised. I learned a lot about my grandma from my aunts at her funeral. I want to learn more so that her legacy can live on even in her boy's family. My other cousins knew all her songs and all her stories and all her recipes. I only knew the songs that she sang to me and the stories she told to me and the recipes I asked for.
The burial is always sad - so final, once again. It was a perfect day for Grandma. The snow started to gently fall during the burial and "her mountain" was covered with snow - just the way she liked it. Her friends tied a huge white bow on her tree. It made the house look special - like someone was loved.
As I played outside with Grace, I was reminded of my childhood. I loved visiting grandma. She would make me feel like I was the most special person to her. She would sit in her backyard with me and I thought she had nothing else to do but sit and talk to me and pat my hand and tell me how much she loved me and being a grandmother. 
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