Grandpa Ray Lindquist

Stacey and I's wedding anniversary is June 16th. I had a bunch of frequent flier miles on United and had for months been planning a trip back to San Francisco, we hadn't been back to the area since we moved to the Pacific Northwest in April of 2004. Of course you can't ever plan for passings, and I was able to cancel our flight and hotel with a full refund. I booked a flight on Southwest leaving Friday night at 8:30 pm. Stac and I went out to eat the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle and she dropped me off at my car at work and I drove to SeaTac. When I arrived at the airport I found my flight had been delayed an hour. We took off at 9:20 and landed in Salt Lake at 12:20. I got my economy car rental at Alamo and left for Logan at 12:48.
Heading up I-15 it was like I was driving back in time. The hot summer evening had cooled to around 75; I rolled the windows down, stuck my arm out the window and tuned the radio to an All 80's station. As the songs played out, it was if 25 years had rolled back and I was carousing around after midnight. The all too familiar road stretched out in front of me as I drove by the flaming spouts of the oil refinery, through Ogden and Brigham City to Sardine Canyon and down into the beautiful Cache Valley where I grew up. I rolled into the Best Western on main at 1:55 am, my sister Sara had left a key at the front desk and I wearily climbed the stairs to room 222. I inserted the electronic key and got red lights, the key didn't work. I walked back to the front desk while the attendant re-coded my key and then back to bed. My brother Josh didn't stir as I climbed into bed, set the alarm and fell asleep.

I showered and lay back down to catch up on a little sleep, which resulted in a rooster tail for the rest of the morning. My brother Josh woke me at 8 and we all gathered for breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards we checked out and Josh and I dropped by to say hi to Roy and Emilie, Stac's parents, who had our anniversary and Stacey's birthday card. We visited for a few moments and then headed for the viewing.
My Grandparents are very private people, and given some sadness in the later years, they wanted a small simple ceremony. No funeral, just a graveside service. As a compromise to my brother's sense of farewell, we had a viewing at 10am. For me these are always moments of poignancy and pain of loss. For me the body left behind is an inanimate reminder of the real person who has carried on, an empty shell that is a shadowy representation that has lost its vitality and waits a future reunion. These are moments of quiet, of pondering and remembering. Moments of goodbye, moments for tears.


Anne then sung a traditional Scottish Song that Grandpa had requested be sung as his funeral :
Going home, going home,
I'm a going home.
Quiet-like, some still day,
I'm just going home.
It's not far, just close by,
Through an open door.
Work all done, care laid by,
Going to fear no more.
Mother's there, expecting me,
Father's waiting too.
Lots of folk gathered there,
All the friends I knew.
Nothing's lost, all's gain,
No more fear or pain,
No more stumbling by the way,
No more longing for the day,
Going to roam no more.
Morning star lights the way,
Restless dreams all done.
Shadows gone, break of day,
Real life has begun.
There's no break, there's no end,
Just a living on.
Wide awake with a smile,
going on and on...
Going home, going home,
I'm just going home.
It's not far, just close by,
Through an open door.
I am going home.....
I'm just going home....
Going home, going home,
Going home, going home,
Going home....
(mp3 of the music)

When my grandfather was in the hospital and still had strength and coherence I spoke with him on the phone. The Last words he said to me were : "You be careful on your hike. Love you and your family. Love you Mark, you keep in touch, we'll talk to you soon."
Talk to you soon Grandfather, talk to you soon.
(Flickr Set)
1 Comments:
Very touching Mark. I'm so glad you were able to be there with your Grandma,Faye,Sharon and your siblings. I'm also glad you had a chance to tell your Grandfather you loved him before he was too far gone to be able to talk to you and hear you. You will always treasure that.
Post a Comment
<< Home