Sunday, September 6, 2009

california, part 2: the memorial

On Saturday, August 29th, we honored the memory of my Uncle Tom.


My mom shared some stories about what it was like to grow up with her brother. He was a musician & an artist, so they displayed his instruments on the stage & shared some of his artwork through a slide show & in the foyer. It was so nice to be able to see all of the photos of Tom, throughout the generations & I loved seeing photos of events that I remember. He was a funny guy & always made me feel loved. I will remember his sense of humor & cherish his love for art.


My dad played "Love is the Answer" by Todd Rudgren (a favorite song of Uncle Tom's) with Uncle Tom's friends & his friend's daughter.


Some of our cousins on my dad's side of the family came to the memorial too. Youngest to oldest: Erik, Katrina, Gretchen, Becca, Heather & Adrienne


After the memorial, we drove up to the place where we were planning to spread his ashes, but the gate was closed. Everyone parked on the side of the road & discussed the plan.


We ended up squeezing through the gate & walking to the bridge that my cousin Wyatt built for Eagle Scouts.


It was getting dark but I was able to get one clear shot of my mom, spreading her brother's ashes. Aunt Robin is kneeling below, Aunt Nancy standing behind, next to Aunt Conxita (in white; Uncle Tom's ex-wife) & Aunt Carol was next to Conxita. Each took a turn, then my dad & Tom's best friend Kevin took a turn, spreading a handful of ashes & saying some words. It was very emotional & I felt honored to be a part of something so special.

2 comments:

hechtr said...

Thank you Katrina for this beautiful tribute/post..emotional...Coldplay song FIX U was playing on pandora station when I came to your blog...followed by Matt Kearney's NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE...! Love IS the answer and life's too short for anything else.:-D I love you!
MoM/emaw

Lauren Odell Usher Sharpton said...

Wow...that looks like it was such a special event for your family. What a great way to remember/honor someone.