Grandma's Rainbow

Last Wednesday (August 22) my dear, sweet grandma, Maurine, or "Grandma F." as we Taylor kids called her, passed away. She was one of the most caring, kind, loving, and giving people that I have ever known. I am so grateful that I was able to see her in June when I came out to Utah for my job interview. Mom and I stopped to see her right after the interview, and she was so excited to think that I might get a job in Utah. We took this picture to celebrate the special occasion. I didn't think this would be the last time I would see her! When Grandma found out that I got the job in Salt Lake City, she was so excited, and we enjoyed talking on the phone about how I would come visit her often when Greg and I moved to Utah.

 

Unfortunately Grandma had a couple of falls--on August 11 and August 14--and her health rapidly went downhill. On Thursday, August 16, my mom called to tell me that Grandma was not doing well. I was able to talk with Grandma briefly on the phone, and she told me goodbye and that she would see me in heaven. I told her that I hoped that I would see her when I came to Utah the next week. We both said how much we loved each other, and I told her goodbye. I hoped that she would recover, but later that day Grandma became unresponsive. She recovered a little bit the next day, and Mom held the phone up to Grandma so she could talk to me, but it was difficult for her to say very much. Things then went downhill very quickly. Greg and I spent the weekend packing my things and getting ready to head out to Utah. I had been planning to move my stuff out to Utah that next week anyway, but we moved our trip up, hoping that we could see Grandma. We left Springfield on Tuesday, August 21, and drove all the way to Ogallala, Nebraska, where we spent the night. I was excited to think that the next day we would make it to Utah and I could go visit Grandma, and Greg and I left very early on Wednesday morning. But just as we were driving through Laramie, Wyoming, my mom called to tell me that Grandma had passed away that morning. I was so sad that I was too late to see her, but I was grateful that she no longer had to suffer. Greg and I arrived in Utah seven hours later--seven hours too late. I was happy to learn that my sister Lindy had stayed late into the night with Grandma on Tuesday--I'm sure that was a wonderful comfort to Grandma. 

 

We spent the evening with Mom and Dad over at the Barretts' house where we all enjoyed talking and reminiscing about Grandma. While we were talking about Grandma, we looked outside and saw this beautiful rainbow in the sky! My nieces were sure that Grandma had requested the rainbow to let us know that she was happy in heaven with Grandpa F.  

 

The next day we all needed a little cheering up, so we and the Barretts went to Orange Leaf--a delicious frozen yogurt place (Highland's version of Springfield's Cherry Berry!).

 

We spent the next couple of days making arrangements for Grandma's funeral. On Friday evening, I had a special experience with Mom, Lindy, and Greg. We were able to go to the mortuary and be there while Grandma's favorite hairdresser, Cindy, did Grandma's hair. Lindy painted Grandma's nails, and we got her looking beautiful, as she always did. 

 

On Saturday morning we went to Provo for Grandma's funeral. Her funeral service was held at the Oak Hills 1st Ward building. The Oak Hills 1st Ward was the Farnsworth family ward for years and years, and Grandma always considered that to be her home ward. When I arrived at the church the sun was just coming up over "Y" Mountain--a beautiful sight--and one that Grandma surely enjoyed many times while living in the foothills above Provo. 

 

Her funeral service was beautiful--it was a fitting tribute to a truly amazing woman. One of the songs that was sung at her service was called "Remember Me" by Deanna Edwards. Grandma had requested that this song be sung at her funeral, and the song mentioned both rainbows and roses--two of Grandma's favorite things. We were able to lay some roses on Grandma's casket at the cemetery.

 

Here are the cute Barretts at the cemetery. 

 

And here is the Taylor/Barrett/Bowles group. Grandma's greatest joy in life was her family, and we were so grateful for a wonderful day spent remembering and honoring Grandma.  

 

We have spent the last couple of days cleaning out Grandma's apartment at the Charleston. Today Mom, Dad, and I moved furniture all day then drove up to Draper to pick up a table at IKEA. On our way back to the Charleston, something appeared in the sky . . . another beautiful rainbow. I was able to snap a picture of it right above the Charleston before it faded away. It was like one more little message from Grandma letting us know that all is well. Whenever I see a rainbow or a rose, I will always think of Grandma and remember her wonderful life. It makes me sad to think that I won't get to see Grandma any more in this life, but like Grandma told me, I will see her again in heaven. But until then, I will sure miss her!

Saying Goodbye

This has been quite the week! I have been feeling all kinds of emotions, but mostly a mixture of excitement and sadness. Tonight is my last night in Springfield (in my head it is still Monday night, but it is past midnight, so I guess that technically now it is Tuesday), and I am very excited for the new opportunities waiting in Utah and to be close to my family there, but I am also very sad to be leaving our dear friends here in Springfield. I am also sad because Grandma F.T. is in very poor health right now. I hope that Greg and I can make it out to Utah in time to see her. She has certainly been in my thoughts and prayers this week! Mom had originally planned to fly out here and drive back to Utah with me, but because of Grandma's situation, we decided that it would be better for her to stay in Utah. So Greg and I will be embarking on a road trip tomorrow (actually I guess we are leaving later today since it is already Tuesday). 

Our farewell festivities began last Monday evening when Greg's boss and his family took us out to eat. They are going to really miss having Greg at the funeral home! But they are glad that they'll have a little more time with him before he heads to Utah.


On Tuesday, we had a fun lunch party at the Military Museum. This cake was amazing! 

And then later in the day on Tuesday my sweet friends Susan and Linda hosted a reception for Greg and me at the Lincoln Home Conference Center. It was great to see many of my old Lincoln Home pals! Susan and Linda have been wonderful mentors and friends, and I will miss them very much.

On Wednesday evening I was able to have a fun game night with some of my friends from church, and then on Friday Greg and I had a great dinner with our favorite Springfield friends, the Atkins, at Cozy Dog Drive In. After dinner we went over to their house, and Connor and Emma put on a farewell show for us. They are SO CUTE!!! They sang the cutest "goodbye" song.

On Saturday Greg and I went to our last St. Louis Cardinals game. We have sure enjoyed living close enough to St. Louis to have attended a number of Cardinals games over the last few years. But we'll still be Cardinals fans, even after we leave. And hopefully someday we can go to another Cards game. The best part of the day was when we got to meet up with Sarah, Joel, Eliza, and Leo at Ted Drewes for some tasty frozen custard! It just so happened that they were in St. Louis also, so we got to see them to say goodbye. I will miss being just three hours away from them! On Sunday it was sad to be at church here for the last time. I really enjoyed my association with all of the kind people in our ward, and I was especially sad to say goodbye to the Young Women and the other Young Women leaders! That afternoon I was able to go hang out with the Atkins--I am going to miss them so much!!

This morning Greg and I went over to Nauvoo with our friends Rose and Chris. They love history as much as we do, and they were interested in learning more about the history of the LDS Church, so we didn't want to miss an opportunity to show them around in Nauvoo. It was a beautiful day, and we had a lot of fun visiting several sites in town. We will miss hanging out with Rose and Chris--especially since they just moved back to Springfield!

And then this evening we got to meet up with the Atkins one more time for some yummy frozen yogurt at Cherry Berry! Have I mentioned that I am going to miss them? :) They are such a wonderful family, and I am so glad that we have gotten to know them. It was really hard to say goodbye, but I will look forward to seeing them when I come back to help Greg with the final move sometime in the near (hopefully) future. I am so grateful for the time I have had in Illinois! I can't believe that, including my time at grad. school, I have lived in Illinois for almost five years!! Though I was sad to live so far away from my family, I wouldn't trade my time here for anything because of the wonderful friendships I gained in the Land of Lincoln. So, like Lincoln, I bid Springfield an "affectionate farewell," and look back on my time here with the fondest of memories. Now we will embark on a new adventure!

A FAIRly great week

This has been a fun and BUSY week! On Tuesday Greg and I went up to Peoria for one last Peoria Chiefs game. It was the perfect evening for baseball, and we got to see the Chiefs' pitcher set a new stadium record for number of strikeouts. We also won a free burger at Hardees because the pitcher struck out one particular player three times!

On Thursday I was able to participate in the annual State Fair Twilight Parade with the museum staff and volunteers! I got to ride in the Humvee this year, which was good because the crowd got a little rowdy as we neared the fair grounds.

Here is the HUGE crowd inside the fair grounds.

On Friday two of my favorite Lincoln Home friends--Matt and Melissa--visited me at the museum! Melissa works in Richmond, Virginia, and Matt works in Independence, Missouri, and I have missed them SO MUCH! Greg and I had fun at dinner with them and some of our other Lincoln Homies that evening.  

Yesterday was my last day of work at the museum, so to celebrate Greg and I went to the State Fair with our friends Rose and Chris after work. Greg tried something new this year--fried cheesecake, which apparently looks like a Twinkie (as does most of the other fried food at the fair).

Look who Rose and I found!! But what was Abraham Lincoln doing in Ethnic Village? I suppose it wouldn't be the Illinois State Fair without Lincoln! And you will notice that I am holding a large and very delicious watermelon lemonade--my new favorite drink.

And here is the butter cow because we have to have a picture of the butter cow every year (and this year there is a butter girl too).

We had a great evening at the fair!

And since yesterday was my last day at work, I took a picture of my Mormon War display, which is now out on display in the museum. It was a good last hurrah for my time there. I did enjoy working at the Illinois State Military Museum, but I am so excited for my new job in Utah and our new adventures there that I don't mind leaving this museum. This has been a very busy week, and I think it will keep getting more busy until I leave!

Last Sliders Game

On Friday I found out the date when I will start working at the Church History Museum! I will start on September 4, so I'll actually be leaving Springfield in about two-and-a-half weeks to give myself a little time in Utah before I start work. So Greg and I realized that we have a lot of things that we need to fit in before I leave! Our first order of business was attending one last Springfield Sliders game.

It was a beautiful, perfect evening for baseball.

And the Sliders even won (which is kind of unusual)! We have enjoyed going to Springfield Sliders games, Peoria Chiefs games, and St. Louis Cardinals games, but luckily there are some good baseball teams in Utah too--and there is always BYU football!

A Blast from the Past

What a great last few days it has been! We've had a couple of blasts from the past around here. First off, on Thursday Greg and I headed to Charleston, IL to visit some of our favorite friends: the Stowell Family! The Stowells were my adopted family while I was at graduate school, and I'm so glad that we have stayed in touch. It was wonderful to see them again!

Here we were in 2008 just before I left Charleston.

And here we are four years later in 2012--everyone is all grown up! We had a great time eating Thai food and catching up on everything. I couldn't believe how grown up all of the kids are! It will be sad to be really far away from them when Greg and I move to Utah, but hopefully we'll be able to visit each other every so often. It was SO FUN to see them!!!

Greg and I also had to stop by campus to visit the bookstore, and of course I had to get a picture by Old Main. I really did enjoy my time at EIU. We also stopped by to see two of my great professors Mr. Riccio and Dr. Small. We had a wonderful visit with them.

On our way home we saw something that we hadn't seen in a long time: rain and a rainbow! Too bad none of the rain fell in Springfield--everything is SO dry here.

And then this weekend we had another blast from the past when our two wonderful friends David and Teal came to visit! They were in St. Louis for a wedding, so they swung up to Springfield before flying back to Washington. We were able to get together with a lot of our fun Lincoln Home friends and reminisce about the good times that we had when we all worked at Lincoln Home (before things went downhill).

We went "Looking for Lincoln" at the giant Scheels store in Springfield. :) It was great to see David and Teal, and we're glad that we'll be a little closer to them when we move to Utah!