Thursday, March 12, 2009

Grandpa Millburn's Funeral

**note: these pictures are randomly put in here, I'm way too tired to get them in the right spot **
Notice Lincoln helping. He ran up to Bubs saying 'Help too!'

Today was my Grandpa Millburn’s funeral. Steve dropped me off at my dad’s house in the morning. My dad and I left to pick up my Grandma. We got to the church early, which was very nice. It was so wonderful to see so many people. My Grandpa Parry and Uncle John drove down from Idaho Falls. That was so great and thoughtful of them. All the California cousins were there as well. They are my dad’s cousins. My Grandma and Grandpa Millburn sure do love them.

Rachel & Cassie

The funeral was very nice. Both my Aunt Gayle and my dad spoke. Elder Robert L. Backman also spoke. I loved the stories of my grandpa. My favorites were:

When Aunt Gayle gave Grandpa a vest for Christmas he leaned over to my brother Mike and said, “Maybe next year I’ll get the sleeves.”
Stephanie & Marie

When my Grandpa was a lawyer, he was assigned a client to defend. The client was accused of murdering his wife. The evidence was overwhelming. When the verdict was read, both my grandpa and his client were shocked that he was acquitted. A few weeks later, my Grandpa recognized one of the jury members on the gold course. He asked him why they decided to acquit his client. He was told that they decided if Doc Millburn was representing him then he had to be innocent. Wow.

I also love the story of my Grandpa falling at the cemetery. He rolled all the way down the hill. When my dad ran down to gather him up, he said, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.” My grandma stood at the top of the hill with her hands on her hips and said, “Honestly Ralph, act your age”.

Marie & Mike

My Grandma and Grandpa were so funny together. I loved being with them. The hardest part of living so far away is not being able to spend as much time with my family as I would like. I hope my Grandma is going to be okay. Life sure got a whole lot more lonely for her.

After the funeral, we went to my Grandpa’s grave. He had already picked out his headstone. He use to walk over and double check that there was no death date on it.

Mike, Brett, John, Bubs, Steph & Matt

At the luncheon after the funeral, we were able to spend a lot of time catching up with each other. I talked to my dad’s cousin Chris Cremer for awhile. He was talking about when he coached soccer. They were in this huge tournament. They had a big game on Sunday and his star player is LDS. Chris is not LDS. He talked to his star player and said, “I want you to ask your parents if they will let you play this game on Sunday. If they agree to let you play, I will go to your church with you for the next four weeks.” Brilliant! She played, they won and he followed through with his end of the bargain.

My family with Grandma

After we left the church, we hung out at Bubs & Ange’s house, then went to my dad’s. We played games the rest of the day (and watched a little basketball). We played Would You Rather . . . and Apples to Apples. My dad got pizza, and I got back to Steve & Shannon’s around 11:30. I couldn’t believe how fast the day went. It was a wonderful, sad, happy, and enjoyable day. I loved being with my brothers. It has been years since we have all been together. I really wish we could experience that more often. I love them.

Grandma with the California cousins

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