The Funeral

We woke up to a beautiful day Saturday morning. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for the funeral and burial. Dad, Mom, and I got over to the church a little before the viewing was to start and there were people starting to come. 

Jan, Matt, Marlee, Tom, Marijka, and Karen Luthi had stayed down and were there for me. Maggie Porter came and joined them. They formed the main support team for me. 

My friends Stacey Jeppesen, Nicky Garcia, and Connie Porter. The Brimhall's from my previous ward came. My aunt Patt Hansen was there with her mom MaryBell and sister Krista. I was very touched that they would all make the effort to come for me. 

The viewing was worse than the night before because Kyle's nephews were there and having a really hard time. It was really hard to watch them cry and have no idea how to make it any easier for them. It was really hard to watch everyone say goodby and close the casket. Kyle's Uncle Dick gave a nice prayer for the family. 

The funeral was very special. Kevin gave a wonderful tribute. I appreciated that he used the obituary I wrote. Dad and Karianne's talks were right on. They couldn't have been more perfect. 

When Bishop Yates got up to give his closing remarks he said he felt impressed to let Kyle's nieces and nephews know that there will be times during their lives when their Uncle Kyle will be with them in spirit watching out for them. It was a confirmation of a thought I had been having about Kyle now being their special guardian angel. He loves them all so much. 

The cemetery where he is buried is up east of Draper on 10600 South. We did the procession up there. It's a huge facility. 

Kyle's brothers and some cousins were the pall bearers and his nephews were the honorary pall bearers. The nephews lined up and walked in front of the casket over to the grave. They were all wearing their sunglasses like Uncle Kyle did. Kevin, Kory, Jason, and Kory all had theirs on as well. 

I put my corsage on the casket and took Kyle's hat that was there. I gave it to him as a gift for our wedding. It gave me a little comfort to hold it. Kyle's dad Don did a nice job dedicating the grave. One of Kyle's cousins had brought 40 white balloons for us to let go. It was very special to stand and watch them float away.  It was beautiful. 

My support crew and I went back to the church for the dinner. It was really nice and we enjoyed spending some time together. Kyle never had a great relationship with my siblings or Karen. I think the whole day was an opportunity for us all to come to some understanding of the past years. There was healing and mending of relationships. It turned out to be a very special, emotional day. 

We went back to the hotel and crashed. I was really glad we had decided to stay. The thought of having to go home and unpack and everything was more than I could deal with at that point.