after a beautiful funeral, we buried poppy in the brown grasses of chesterfield, idaho.
i spent most of the day chasing my new walker through the halls of the church and waiting out his car seat naps so brandon could attend undistracted. it was a lovely day. the sky was bright and beautiful, and idaho was just as idaho-y as can be. gotta love that idaho. (oh man did it feel good to be back in idaho.)
here are some photos i took of the day.
is this just an idaho thing? driving up on the cemetary?
oh my gosh, they do it in kanaaraville, utah too! my grandpa was buried there and sure enough... RIGHT UP to the plot.
ReplyDelete... minus the field. it was more like dead grass there.
So sorry for your loss. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteBittersweet photos. Haunting.
ReplyDeleteI liked what you said in your last post about the funeral, how you read that most people regret not alowing themselves to be happier and how sad that is. I am going to try my best to remember that the next time I am grumpy about something insignificant.
In the country here (Australia) the hearse drives up to the plot and everyone else parks close by and walks the rest of the way.
ReplyDeleteWe also drive from the church to the cemetary in a slow procession with the headlights on. Do you guys do this?
The first funeral I went to was my pa's. I was eight. He was a returned serviceman and a bugle player played "The Last Post" as his coffin was lowered into the grave. As I write this to you, 29 years later, I have tears running down my face. It has a big impact a gravsite burial.
I am glad that Brandon's Poppy had a good send off. Bless you all.
Might sound strange, but that looks like a beautiful place to spend the next hundred years! The photos give it a 70s western feel. Very homely and peaceful :)
ReplyDeleteGlad Idaho cooperated for a lovely funeral, If a funeral can be lovely. Idaho has been pretty sunny lately.
ReplyDeleteWow, you were in the middle of nowhere. I live about and hour and a half from there. And you can actually take my street east and it will directly connect to Chesterfield (if you want a dirt, bumpy, un-kept road.)
ReplyDeleteIdaho can be really peaceful. I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope poppy isn't missed too much.
Thank heavens for the POS! {plan of salvation}
Erin
http://someoneinmind.blogspot.com/
Holbrook RD? My goodness.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anyone drive right up to the grave, but I've only been to burials at huge, old, dense cemeteries in the middle of a city.
Give Brandon a hug from my family.
I'm sorry for your loss. The funeral and scenery looked so very peaceful...what a way to go.
ReplyDeletei love that the church is branching out- a stone inlay with the rose coloured carpet! oh la la, Idaho is fancy!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful photos! I'm just curious though - what's with the red tinge? Is it an effect you used or just the way the sun hit?
ReplyDeleteCan I just say I love Idaho-y-ness too? I'm from Idaho, and man, there's no place like it. And I'm pretty sure that's just an eastern Idaho thing driving up ON the cemetery. Pretty intense if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures, gotta love Idaho! Very sorry for your loss but happy for Poppy! What a blessing to live a long full life.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nat for sharing. One of the most beautiful cemeteries on this planet is the Clawson Cemetery...in Idaho. God bless.
ReplyDeleteHello! Small word, I was there too! Poppy was my great Uncle Joe; I think Brandon is my second cousin or something. My grandma is Jackie, Joe's youngest sister. I was the one who joined you and Henry in the hall at the church when my own baby Magnolia decided to start yelling for no reason. I'd read your blog before but stupidly never made the connection.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a lovely day. I've always thought that the Chesterfield Cemetery is the most beautiful one I've ever seen, and I loved Uncle Joe; he was so sweet.
Anyway, sorry for the weirdness of this comment, but I love your blog so it was nice to have (kind of, not really) met you.
We just went to Trevor's grandfather's funeral, and it was in Colorado and they drove right up onto the grave site as well. Maybe it is a country thing? Beautiful photos :)
ReplyDeleteThe top picture, bottom picture and one with the cows really showcase the beauty of Idaho.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to honor Poppy's life in this way.
As weird as this sounds, I love LDS funerals (anyone would, though, after attending a Catholic funeral--yikes). I actually find them more emotionally satisfying than weddings (except for one I attended in this gorgeous old stable, naturally). At LDS funerals, you really are reminded what this life is really about. And it's poignant yet impossibly sweet to think of the reunion your loved ones are having on the other side of the veil. And there's so much hope in the midst of sadness. I'm sure Poppy is happier than he's ever been. All the same, much love to you and Brandon. A life without grandpas is just a little bit sadder, methinks.
ReplyDeleteoh I thought it was weird when here in Oklahoma we had to drive right up through the cemetary!
ReplyDeletethe day looked gorgeous. sorry for your loss, happy that poppy is with God now.
Beautiful. I see these photos and I hear Aaron Copland music.
ReplyDeleteahh, the vast expanse of the West. And all of that golden light! What a nice little man in a sweater Huck is cruising around on two feet! Holbrook road, eh? poppie and his poppie before (and surely their grand daughter in law) must be famous! have a nice trip home to the other side of the Mississippi!
ReplyDeleteI buried my Grandma the same day you were in Idaho burying Brandon's Poppy. It's crazy, isn't it? To think of all the people around the world going through the same things at the same time as you?
ReplyDeleteWe don't do it over here but then I have never seen an actualy burial so maybe I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe skies in these photos ar eamazing, so pretty!
So sorry for your loss. It look like it was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for your loss, these are beautiful pictures however..... Thanks for sharing something so personal!! xo
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place. And a beautiful, sunny day. I never think to take photos at burials but, in a way, they are beautiful too. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou drive on the grass at the cemetary in Maryland, too. I know that from my grandfather's funeral. So sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in SE Idaho and these pictures make me homesick. I only live in SLC now, but my parents don't live in St. Anthony anymore so I don't go there. Maybe I need to take a trip just to smell the dirt, hay, and... that stinky dairy farm on the way just after Malad. :)
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