Memorial Day 2017 in Idaho

I'm not sure how many generations back it started, but my father's family has always made Memorial Day a really special occasion to remember those relatives who have passed on.  They decorate the graves the Saturday before, have a special family meeting by the headstones on Sunday, and really treat Memorial Day as a day of remembrance.  Living in Florida for 22 years made it nearly impossible to be able to be in Idaho for Memorial Day, but with it being so important to my dad who has carried on the tradition--even after my mother passed away 15 years ago, I wanted to make a special effort to be in Idaho with my dad and family members on this Memorial Day.  I'm so happy I was able to attend!

 It seems impossible to believe that at 94 years old, my dad has lived by himself for 15 years.  We all miss our mother so much, but no one more than my dad!  He wanted her headstone to especially look beautiful! 

 The backside of my mother's headstone lists all seven of the siblings in our family.

 I LOVE the front of the headstone, too.  With five girls, my mother was always doing our hair when we were younger.  On my father's side of the headstone, are the scales of justice after being a practicing attorney until just about six months ago.  He never retired until he was 93 1/2 years old!
 

We, also, put flowers on my dad's father and mother's grave:  Joseph Lester Rigby and Harriet Maria Lucas Rigby.

 My Grandpa Lester and Grandma Hattie lived less than a mile from our family all while I was growing up.  We were very close to them and loved spending time with them in all the family activities we had together.
 

 On the back of their headstone, the names of their seven children, plus their infant child who died at birth and was never named are listed.

My grandmother, Hattie, as everyone called her, told of being in labor and literally sitting on a chair trying to hold the baby back until the doctor could arrive in the snowy weather.  When he did arrive and the beautiful little baby girl was delivered, she was gone.  So many people told my grandmother that since the baby was a stillborn, that she wasn't really a child, but my grandmother said she felt differently about it and even said she saw a slight quiver of the little baby's chin.  Anyway, I'm with my grandmother--I believe my dad will have another sister to meet in the hereafter!

 We next went to my dad's grandparents' grave:  Joseph Eckersley Rigby and Mary Elizabeth Beck Rigby.  My great grandfather Joseph died a year after I was born; therefore, I never got to know him at all.  I do know that he was such a loving husband, father, and bishop of the Hibbard Ward, I believe for at least 23 years.  My great grandmother died when I was 12 years old, so I did get to know her.  But the years that I was able to know her were basically years when she had dementia and was extremely hard of hearing, so I didn't get a true picture of her.  It was only when my father had me read her life story and testimony of the gospel that I realized all she had done in her life.  She truly was one of my heroes when I realized how giving she was to not only her family, to her ward members, and to the entire community.

 In addition to feeding the many farmhands each day who worked on their farm, she also housed the schoolteachers who taught in the area.  She opened her door and heart to so many people.  This is, also, an example.  William Sugden was born with severe mental and physical disabilities.  However, when his mother died--who was my great grandmother's aunt--my great grandmother built a room on the front of her house where she allowed him to stay and she took care of him.  In addition, my great grandfather had him help with bringing in the cattle each day to give him a sense of achievement and self worth.  Amazing!

 I have been doing a lot of work lately on familysearch.org to try to get all of William Sugden's temple work done.  I have really felt an attachment to him through this work I have done.  

 My dad has so many family stories that we really want to hear before he passes away.  He is such a treasure-trove of knowledge and feelings!

 While we were talking and decorating the graves of all these people we love, we heard a honk and here came my dad's sister, Merle, from Blackfoot, Idaho.  Believe it or not, she is 88 years old!

 The siblings, plus their spouses, have always remained close and get together at least once a month for dinner and socializing.  Currently, out of 14 siblings and spouses, there are seven remaining.

 We were so excited to see two of our cousins (Merle's daughters) who we haven't seen for so long!  My cousin, Nancy; my sister, Joyce; my cousin, Judy; my sister, Beverly; and me.
 
We, also, decorated the grave of our Grandpa Lester's little sister, Hazel, who died when she was only about a month and a half old.

We next went to another cemetery probably 15 miles away where my dad's grandparents on his mother's side are buried:  Hyrum John Lucas and Josefina Albertina Nilsdotter Lucas.  My dad said his Grandpa Hyrum used to call him his "Little Cowboy."  He was such a great man who did everything for his family.  He and his wife raised ten girls!

Later on Sunday, we saw a plaque where our great grandfather Hyrum J. Lucas was pictured as being the first bishop of the Plano Ward and held that position for eight years.

Buried right near her parents is one of the ten girls who lived most of her married life near the Seattle area with her husband.  She died quite some time after her husband and was being taken care of by caretaker in Los Angeles.  My dad worked very hard to get her body returned to this cemetery to be buried near her parents.

 My dad's great grandmother, Harriett Leeson, mother of Hyrum J. Lucas, is also buried here.  She was born in England in 1827 and died in Plano, Idaho, in 1893

While we were visiting with my dad, we were excited when he received a very special recognition from the same high school that I attended:  Madison High School.  I LOVE this picture with my dad smiling, and my mother's picture right there beside him supporting him.

The booklet that was handed out the night he received the award listed in a nutshell some of his professional awards in his life

This is a list of the others who were inducted into the Madison High School Hall of Fame that evening.

Another evening, all of those in town at that time, went to dinner together.  We had such a great time!

My brother, Jerry, and my SIL, Shelly

My sister, Beth, and her husband, Ted, along with two of their three boys:  Chase who is an attorney in Blackfoot and Burke, who just graduated from medical school.

On Sunday, we had a family meeting at my mother's burial place.  My brother, Jerry, took charge of the meeting.

We had such a beautiful meeting where we remembered all the wonderful things our mother did for us and how much we all still miss her--but we all truly know that we will see her again some day.  We just all need to live as good as she did in order to be where she is!

Emily (far right) along with her husband, Irvin (far left) and their darling baby, Luke.  In the center is Emily's sister, Annie.

Niece, Allison; my sister-in-law, Shelly; my brother, Jerry; my dad

Sister, Beverly; Me; sister, Joyce; Dad; my sister, Beth; my brother, Jerry

The cousins attending the special Memorial Day Meeting:  Emily, Annie, Allison, Burke--with their Grandpa Ray

My brother-in-law, Ted; their son, Burke; Grandpa Ray; Sister, Beth

We, also, visited and decorated my dad's brother, Alden, and his wife, Alice's grave.  They were such a kind uncle and aunt--true Christians in every way!  They used to watch us when our parents would go on a vacation together.  Alden was a farmer and milked cows.  It was great fun going to the big barn and watch him milk the cows.  I thought our Aunt Alice was one of the best cooks in the world!
The back of their headstone lists their three children:  Lynn, Scott, and LaNae--cousins we grew up with.  They only lived a little over a mile away from us.

Near where my mother is buried is the headstone in place for my Uncle Harold and Aunt Vaudys, although they are both still alive and doing pretty well!

As we were leaving the cemetery, I had to snap this picture of the beautiful Rexburg, Idaho Temple.  The temples are where the sealing ordinance take place, in which husbands and wives are sealed to each other and children are sealed to their parents in eternal families. This means that if we are faithful to our covenants, our family relationships will continue for eternity.  I loved the peace I felt as we had such a beautiful weekend being reminded of so many wonderful family members who have passed on that we hope to see one day! 

 In addition to spending great family time during Memorial Day thinking about those who have passed on, we, also, had the opportunity of going through many items that have been collected by our parents through the years.  It brought back so many memories--sometimes causing us to laugh, other times bringing us to tears!
 
Our mother loved to read about current events--probably where I inherited my love of keeping up on pop culture and what is happening in the community, country, and world!  This was so sweet finding in her own handwriting directions to keep these issues of the Life Magazine which had some of the highlights she had experienced.

 In addition, our mother was a fantastic seamstress!  She loved to sew and made most of our clothes when we were young.  She made all our prom dresses or altered ones we bought so that they would be modest.  Actually, she loved getting a great bargain and practically took the entire outfit apart, putting it back into something that fit perfectly and was like it was out of a very expensive dress shop or from a famous designer.  In addition, she loved cutting and assembling quilts.  After the quilt top was assembled, family members would get together around the quilt and work on quilting it together.   I have very fond memories of sitting around quilts with aunts, my grandmother and even great grandmother, along with my mother quilting beautiful creations!  Joyce found these small scissors still attached to a string our mother had made so she would always have her scissors near by and not waste any time looking for them.

 After opening several cupboards downstairs, we found what seemed like hundreds of pieces of fabric--all color coded and ready for making beautiful quilts with.  All of us agreed that these should be donated to the Humanitarian Center.

 Our sister-in-law, Denise, along with our brother, Blair, and their little granddaughter took all of the fabric to the donation center. 

 In Denise's own words:  "The women there went crazy over all her fabric.  They were grateful.  They promised to make beautiful blankets with the fabric.  It will go to places and people all over the world."  This made us all so happy that our mother's hard work of assembling all this cherished fabric would go to help others--which basically she did her entire life.

 Some other treasures we found downstairs in our parents' home:  This great picture of our dad when he was a cadet in the Air Force.  We had never seen this picture before and found it inside sort of a year book that had been put out during our dad's first months in the Air Force.

 We loved the box labeled with our Grandma Hattie's name on it.  Inside were letters and cards written to and from her to members of our family.  These provided so much information about our father's love for his parents and their love for him.

We found the article written for the Obituary Section of the local newspaper when Grandma Hattie died on the 9th of June 1979.  She was such a beautiful light in all of our lives and we still miss her smile and interest in all of us.  I will never forget standing by her casket with all of the older granddaughters.  One remarked, "I was her favorite granddaughter, you know."  "What?"  Then each of us reiterated the same thing and said that was the beauty of how our grandmother treated us--she genuinely made us each feel we were her favorite! 

Such a sweet tribute given by our dad to his mother on Mother's Day written before our dad was married.

 Another treasure--Some writings from our Grandpa Lester while he and our Grandma Hattie were serving their three year mission to the Samoan Islands where their first child was born.  I remember when Grandpa Lester would greet us with Samoan words and intersperse some Samoan words in his everyday speaking.

We loved going through our little box which housed all of the 45 rpm records we siblings had collected through the growing-up years.

We, also, had so many fun memories of these puzzles which have been through not only all seven of us siblings growing up, but also the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, too.  They are probably at least 60 years old--and yet notice, not one piece gone!  Our parents always taught us to take care of what we had and not waste things.  An excellent lesson learned by all of us!

Another item with many fond memories, especially for our brothers, was this train track which our father and brothers had attached to a piece of plywood so that they didn't have to assemble it each time they played with it.  We girls were absolutely fascinated with how many hours this train entertained our brothers!

 

  Although there were far too many memories to mention as we sorted carefully through all of the items in the house, basement, and garage, I wanted to mention one last item found by our brother, Jerry, in the garage.  He had such a great story behind this little oil can.  When our brother, Jerry, was young, our dad handed this brand new little oil can to him when he was riding on the back of the potato planter.  The planter had become difficult to handle, so Jerry used the oil can to lubricate the gears.  As he was handed the can, Dad told him to be careful with it and not lose it.  Well, sure enough, at the end of the day, Jerry had no idea where that little oil can was.  He looked and looked, but to no avail.  He did not want to tell Dad he had lost this little oil can when it had just been purchased.  After his unsuccessful attempts, Jerry got down on his knees and prayed so mightily to Heavenly Father that he would help him find that little can.  No sooner than he had prayed, he walked a little ways away and started digging, and there was the little oil can!  It had been dug under the dirt with the potatoes they were planting and most certainly would have never been found without the Lord's help.  A true answer to prayer!  Definitely, this was something for Jerry to have to pass down to his children! 

After the five days of being in Idaho staying with my dad, it was now time to leave.  He was very sad to see Beverly, Joyce, and I leave as we had all enjoyed the time together so much.  We knew he would have a difficult time seeing us go.  We are so grateful that we have three siblings that live right there in the area--one lives right next door--and appreciate all they constantly do for our dad.  We all stated that we would try to get there again soon to enjoy  more memories as we spent time with each other in the home we grew up in since I was a sophomore in high school.  I had flown into Boise and ridden to Rexburg with my sister, Beverly.  Now, I was riding with my sister, Joyce to Utah where I would be helping out with Kevin and Angie's kids for five days while they were away on a business trip.  This time in Rexburg with my dad and siblings had truly been a time that I will never forget!