Today we celebrate a life well lived and a soul well loved as we remember my beloved Grams, Dorothy Evelyn Berkey.  This marvel of a woman truly lived all of her 96 glorious years. She was a spunky, caring, graceful, strong, beautiful, generous, clever, resourceful, loving, shining example of a human being.  She showed us how to love unconditionally.  If you were lucky enough to be on the receiving end of her affections, you knew what it felt like to be loved completely.  Anyone who knew her would agree that her heart was huge and her love boundless.  It is a good thing because in her time on this earth, she became so much to so many!  Among other titles, she was a sister to 12 younger siblings, an aunt to too many to count, a mother to 7 children, a grandmother to 18 grandchildren, a great grandmother to 33 (and counting!) great grandchildren, a great great grandmother to 6 great great grandchildren.  

Today my family came together in Escondido, CA to honor her and lay her to rest in El Cajon.  I know the service must have been beautiful and well attended.  I wish more than anything that I could have been there with my big, crazy family to remember and laugh with them. I know there must have been A LOT of laughter because that's what my family does when we get together - we laugh until our stomachs hurt and we pee our pants. And Grams wouldn't have wanted it any other way! She had a way of spreading joy, and I hope the hearts of those celebrating her life were joyful today!

Today I felt very far away.  I had struggled with the decision to not fly home for the service.  Mom and dad said that Grams wouldn't have expected us to be there and would have wanted us to continue on in our journey.  Family was the most important thing to her and they said it would have brought her joy knowing that we are together as a family.  They suggested we do things here to honor and remember her. I made the very difficult decision to not go.
 
So, today the kids and I filled each part of our day with intention to keep her in our hears.  We lit a candle to keep her memory alive and invite her spirit.  We looked at photos of us with her.  We talked about her and the things we loved about her.  For the past six years, we have been fortunate enough to spend Spring Breaks in SoCal with our big, crazy family. Our time with Grams every year has been precious and it means everything to me that she knew my kiddos and they knew her. I asked Tabor if she remembered Grams and she said, "Yes, she was so nice to everyone." Yeah, Tabes, she was!

Today was a beautiful day here in Pucon.  For the past few days, torrents of rain have been falling.  But today, the sun shone.  The kids and I went for a hike through the neighboring pastures in Grams' honor. She grew up on a farm in Iowa and I always loved to hear the stories of her caring for and loving the animals.  So it seemed fitting that we walked through the fields and greeted the baby pigs, fed the cows apples, chirped at the baby chicks, all while being trailed by the most adorable little puppy. 

Today, we laid in the field and we could feel her in the warm sun on our faces. I could see her in my kiddo's joy as I watched them play in the pasture. Just thinking of her kept her all around us. In the end, the most simple and sweet way to honor her was spending an afternoon being in every moment with my kiddos.

Today, we honor you, Grams! Saying goodbye is so hard and we already miss you dearly. But we know you will live on forever in our hearts and memories of you. We feel your spirit all around us. We love you so much!