one voice.

The view of my Grandma's patio one afternoon in Wenatchee.

Hi friends. I'm so sorry it has been such a sporadic few weeks (month-and-a-half, really). these weeks have been, without a doubt, some of the most scary, wonderful, and fulfilling of my life. You may remember two weeks ago when I posted about my gramps. He passed away on June 12, so I spent last week in Wenatchee, WA with my family, which was wonderful. While we mourned his death, I think we also honored his life. How wonderful it is to know that in the death of a believer, hope surpasses all sadness. You can read his full obituary here. Now, if you'll allow me to make what could be a stretch of an analogy, I'd like to explain what last week was like for me. Feel free to listen to this song, "One Voice" by The Wailin' Jennys, which struck me as a parallel to last week.

Grandpa's obituary pointed out that he "may well have been one of the few octogenarians to own an iPad."

This is the sound of one voice, 

One spirit, one voice,

The sound of one who makes a choice,

This is the sound of one voice.

The day I found out that my grandpa was in the hospital, and likely dying, I spent a couple hours in a mix of tears, heartbreak and mourning. I knew this day would come, but we all know there's no way to prepare for it. I felt like one little voice, way out here in Texas, faraway from family.

And then I got to Wenatchee.

Uncle Bill, myself, and Jen

This is the sound of voices two,

The sound of me, singin' with you,

Helpin' each other to make it through,

This is the sound of voices two

Hugging my mom, talking to my sister, watching my grandma cry every time someone stopped by to see her...finally my one voice wasn't alone, and we were sad and hopeful at the same time. As the week went on, more and more family came into town.

Ashley and Ryan honoring Gramps by wearing a couple of his hats in the first ever ChucKup disc golf tourney.

This is the sound of voices three,

Singin' together in harmony,

Surrendering to the mystery,

This is the sound of voices three

Sadness was certainly a part of the week, but when my family is together, the thing we do best is enjoy each other. Stories, laughter, good food, healthy competition...it's just what we do. And what better way to honor the man who's 50% responsible for all of us? We certainly sang together in a beautiful, mournful and hopeful harmony, acknowledging the reality of death and yet surrendering to its mystery.

More of Gramps' hats on the ChucKup field.

This is the sound of all of us,

Singin' with love and the will to trust,

Leave the rest behind, it will turn to dust,

This is the sound of all of us

And on the day of Grandpa's memorial service, when his wife, sons, daughter, son-in law, daughters-in-law, grandkids, great-grandkids, nieces, nephews and friends came together to cry at our loss, to laugh at my grandpa's one-of-a-kind personality, and to reminisce about the times he believed in us, cheered us on, and maybe even drove us crazy, it was all of us, one voice that knew the same man, but each in our own way.

The iPad was displayed front and center for my Grandpa's memorial service. My dad gave the message,
 and did such a beautiful job capturing both my Grandpa's life and the hope we can have in death through Christ.

Charles, Ashley and Jen, enjoying Made Rights for dinner.

The decision was made to fly the flag at the condos where my grandma lives at half mast in honor of Grandpa.

All of Grandpa's kids, and most of his nieces and nephews.

The offspring.

My mom and Grandma, who I so admire for their strength and honesty.
They are the two most beautiful women I know.

This is the sound of one voice,

One people, one voice,

A song for every one of us,

This is the sound of one voice

We sang together for you Gramps.

xoxo.