Our Last 2 Months in Alaska - Part 4 - April 25 to May 7

On April 25th, we arrived in Phoenix to be greeted by Valerie and Carter who had flown in shortly before us.  Then we rented a car, ate some lunch and drove out to Coolidge. We went to Mom's house and then Suzy, Polly and I went to Casa Grande to dress Mom.

That evening, Jesse and Stacy Abraham opened their house to all of us and we went over to gather as a family and have a barbeque.  John and I had taken down a bunch of dall sheep meat so John cooked some of that and some caribou to add to the meal.  After that, it was back to Mom's house to get some sleep.

Early Saturday morning, we arose to get to the church and help set up for the funeral.  Of course we had to have a doll to put on the table by the guest book - what would be better than the Grandma doll and we had to find a tiny doll to slip into the casket so she could have a baby with her.

 

The funeral service was very nice.  The great-grandkids and a few grandkids sang I am a Child of God and Families can be together forever, Jack gave the life story and the Bishop spoke.  Afterwards, they loaded Mom into the back of a minivan for her last road trip to her final resting place.

A few family pictures of the kids and wonderful cousins who came from miles away to join us in the celebration of Mom's life.

Then the super people of the Coolidge Ward fed us a delicious lunch to fortify us for the next part of our day.

Before we knew it it was time to say goodbye to those people who weren't going to Pima and head to the valley. It was a cool cloudy day.  I always loved seeing the Graham Mountains - even after all this time of not living there, Pima is home.

We went to Safford and checked into our hotels and picked up some jackets for the grandkids as it was kind of chilly outside and the wind was blowing.  Then drove to the cemetery.

I was so totally amazed at how many people had come to the cemetery to say goodbye to Mom.  Even more astonished that my best friend from 1960-1966 - Marie McBride happened to be in the area and came.  I had not seen her since 1971.

To see these lovely ladies:  Pam Carter, Marie, Nancy McBride and Joyce Cluff reminded me of the wonderful childhood I had and the awesome people I grew up with.

 

Penny gathered the kids to sing I am a Child of God.  Lamont conducted graveside services and brother Tom dedicated the grave.

Then after visiting a while in the cold wind, we went to the church to eat again as the people in Pima had sweetly offered to feed us.  Joanna Weech a friend of Mom's donated all the meat for the bbq sandwiches.  All too soon, it was time to go to our own hotels to get some sleep.  We dropped John off at the hotel and then Valerie and I went over to where Suzy was staying to visit some more around the swimming pool.  Then after a while, we went back to get some sleep.

Sunday morning, we got up early and ate breakfast so John, Valerie and Carter could get to Phoenix to the airport for their flights out.  They dropped me off at Polly's hotel so I could ride back to Coolidge with them.  Before heading back, we made the rounds:

First stop, the Pima cemetery:

Then the Glenbar Cemetery:

Great-Grandma Betsy Larson Carter

And finally by the house where my Dad was born - it is sad to see it in such bad shape but at least for the moment it is still standing.

We went to Thatcher and had pizza at the park so Polly's grandkids could play for a while and then we drove back to Coolidge.  When we got there, some of the family was already there starting to pull things out.  There was a lot of stuff and we had plenty of work ahead of us to get Mom's house cleaned out.

803 West Hess Avenue - the place Mom had called home for over 10 years.  She was so proud to have been able to live in her own home by herself at the age of 92.

Things sometimes got a little crazy at Mom's.  But we made it through.  Jodi who had helped put up Mom's nativities for a number of years came over and helped me go through them.  Brie and Stacy Abe came over and helped to clear out all of the dolls and make sure that everyone who didn't have one got at least one.  And that the ones with names on went to the person they were supposed to go to.  Sadly, the doll that had Avery's name on seems to have disappeared.

The furniture and things that no one wanted, we carried out to the curb and they were quickly picked up by someone who felt they could use them.  Some things were taken to the 2nd hand store.  Family came and picked up boxes of stuff and took them to distribute to their families.  In the trunk, there were 3 baby afghans:  one pink and one blue for the first great-great grandbaby - "she" is due this October.  We were so happy that there was a 3rd one for the new great-granddaughter that will be born in September.
Finally, we decided that we were turning the house back to the mortgage company.  Craig came over to dig up the rose bushes that he had planted earlier this spring.  He will plant them in front of his house.

We drew grandkids names for some of Grandma's dishes and items so that everyone got something.  And great-grandkids each got a little figurine of Grandma's - we drew for those also.   Finally with almost everything gone and nothing left that I needed to do, I booked my flight home for May 7.

Polly took me to the airport that morning and I flew home - oh wait - I flew back to Fairbanks because technically, I no longer had a home in Alaska.