Ora Carpenter Omerza journal, March 1, 1981 continued

March 1, 1981, continued

We had planned for the family to do the funeral. Jay wanted to give the life history. We asked Afton to give the sermon, John the family prayer, Ivan and Joe the opening and closing prayers and Ted to dedicate the grave. Florence insisted on staying with me Saturday night and Sunday. Bertha came over on Monday and stayed two weeks with me. I do appreciate my sisters so much. They were certainly a comfort to me at this time. Saturday evening the Bishop came and helped with the funeral arrangements. Em had said at one time he didn’t care for singing at a funeral so instead of singing we had Marlene play an organ solo, ‘Abide with me ‘Tis Eventide.’ Em always loved to hear Marlene play. The weather had been bright and sunny and warm for this time of the year but on Sunday it rained and Monday part of the time. The funeral was to be on Tuesday. I felt I just couldn’t stand it if it rained that day. It was clear. A little cooler but it didn’t rain. Floyd and Reid came. I was so grateful to have them here. I only wished Marie and Ruth could have been with them.

I felt we had a very nice service. The church was filled. Many many people told me what a lovely service it was. It gave me a good feeling. Jay did an outstanding job on the life history. I was so proud of him. Afton was special also as was also the prayer and music. I was so proud and grateful for my family. We had many cards, letters, phone calls, flowers, and contributions. It was all very heartwarming. It was good to visit with the family after the funeral. It’s the first time the brothers and sisters had been together in seven years. We have a great family. I was so grateful for Florence and Bertha staying with me. The two weeks following the funeral were hard and without Bertha I don’t know what I would have done. Jay has been a great help in helping with the financial part of it. There was so much to do.

On Feb 11th the Bishop called me in and asked me to teach the Spiritual Living class in Relief Society. I accepted. The Saturday before that Marlene called and asked if I would go to South Mountain Park with them for a picnic supper. We got to the park about 4pm. We found a nice place where there was plenty of rocks and hills for the kids to climb and also a table and fireplace. Marlene had a pan full of barbecued chicken, potato salad, vegetables and fruit. It was delicious. The evening was warm and it was so quiet and peaceful there. Jason wanted to build a fire just to have a fire so we sat and watched the fire. When it got dark we came home and visited for awhile. It was so nice to be with them.

The following Saturday Ted and Nancy invited me to go with them on a picnic. They had just bought a “Bronco” and wanted to try it out in the mountains. We had quite a wild ride. It was fun. We went over some pretty rough roads but the view was great. We cooked hot dogs and had chips and dips and potato salad. Jennifer had a kite but we couldn’t find enough wind to make it fly very well. It was a wonderful day. It was also Valentines day and they gave me a beautiful valentine. I had decided to ignore Valentines this year. Em and I met on Valentine’s day so it was always special for us. He never forgot to give me a valentine and this year it was quite lonely thinking of not receiving one from him, however everyone else remembered me. I got so many expressions of love that day, it made me ashamed to think I had passed it up.

My children have been so good to me. Madge comes to see me each week. Jay comes to lunch about once a week. It’s a short visit but it’s so enjoyable. Ted stops by after work once in awhile. They take good care of me.