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| Seven cousins and one uncle were pallbearers. |
Family began gathering at the house in the morning, so everybody was chatting. Grandma’s funeral was at 11 at the branch building. All six Gilbert children were there. I counted 15 out of 24 grandchildren there, including all seven granddaughters. Several others had been by earlier in the week or at Christmas.
Chris played the piano and Uncle Jim gave the eulogy. Then people were invited to come up and speak. I got up and told about the time Grandma poured a glass of ice water down James’s back when he was being obnoxious and when Grandma had cookies and cake for breakfast.
The funeral took about an hour and a half. From there we drove to the Cedarville cemetery for the graveside service. It was cold and snowing and very muddy there. Uncle John dedicated the grave. That was where I cried the hardest.
After that was a potluck at the fairgrounds. Grandma hadn’t wanted anything like that, so I chose to think of it as a place where the cousins could get together and have lots of space. It was really great reconnecting with cousins. After lunch everyone ended up at the house and continued visiting for the rest of the day.
The relatives all left one at a time. I picked out some books, movies, jewelry, and a doll to take home as memories of Grandma. I went down to the Cooks’ house (next door, to put it loosely) to print my boarding pass. I don’t have a smartphone. I talked with the Cooks, and we shared memories of Grandma getting mad or being mean because people at the funeral said that never happened.
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| Grandma's rescue cat was pining for her. |
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