Proud sister in law

Thursday morning we packed up the boys and their gadgets and headed north to Minnesota to attend the Memorial service for our sister in law Cara's Mom, Jean Larson. If you remember she passed away in early August from the ugly disease called ALS. She had been diagnosed last November, it was fast and furious and an awful disease.

We landed in Edina around 2:00, Charlie and Alice were at Grandma's already so we got to hang out with them for a little bit before the service started. The boys L-O-V-E being with their little cousins, so it was fun. Alice was napping for most of our time there but when she woke up she was excited to see MAX, and to tell me UNCLE SCOTT'S PUNCHING BUTTONS NOO-NOO. (Translation, working on his computer Aunt Susan, she calls me Noo Noo which is the sweetest thing esp since she can say Susan now, but she still goes back to noonoo) And everything Alice says is LOUD hence the capital letters. She is a riot. Charlie and Jack watched a DVD and had some quiet time together.

The service for Jean was beautiful, simple and sweet. Full or laughter, bright flowers and smiles. Just as Jean would have wanted it to be. Cara's brother spoke, my brother Mike spoke and then Cara spoke. let me preface this with the reminder of how very close Cara and her Mom were, talk to your Mom daily, several times a day close. Talk about your meals, your kids, your clothes...the little stuff close. So this has been VERY hard on Cara especially, and all of them. But I want to share with you how PROUD I was of Cara, she stood up there and honored her Mom in the MOST beautiful way. She talked about her, listed off some of her Mom's rules, she told stories, she laughed and her mannerisms have never reminded me as much of her Mom as they did last night. Mike and Cort, her brother, spoke beautifully as well but there was something about Cara's sparkle that just stole the show for me. It was almost as if I could see her begin to heal with every word she spoke. I could see the passion Cara had for keeping her Mom's memory alive, and for honoring her spirit in such a beautiful way. Yes the Pastor spoke after Cara and he was great too, reminded us of the importance of our faith in Jesus and in heaven, a VERY important message to be told. But I was SO very proud of Cara, I could just see her Mom in heaven, jumping up and down and cheering her on. I don't think it's a moment I will soon forget.

We will ALL do our best to keep Grandma Jean's memory alive, for Charlie and Alice especially.

We drove home after the service and landed back on Woodcrest Drive around 12:30 am. A trip we wouldn't have missed.