My mother, Virginia Dale......

7:10 am - Tuesday - April 14th - Wittmann, AZ - 50° F, 43% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the north by northeast......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 77° F.  On this day in 2016 we arrived at the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge #2013 for our first stay....we were not yet members, but because we had applied for membership we were allowed to stay.....

.....since that first stay in April of 2016 we have returned 3 times for extended stays.

Within an hour of TLE and I waking up Monday morning we received a text from my brother-in-law, Bob Hammett, that my mother had 'gone home' at 8:52 am.....

My mother, Virginia Dale, at age 18

She was very athletic in her youth

On their wedding day in February of 1949....Virginia and Arthur

She took up the guitar in the late 50's

One of my favorite pictures

 She had a wonderful voice, and performed 

often before large crowds singing solos.....

....and in stage plays

One of the last pictures of us together taken in 2014

......it is never easy to lose a parent.  My father died in January of 1978 of colon cancer, and it still feels like yesterday to me.  As I watched my mother's life slowly slipping away it brought back all those memories of my last hours with my father.  Going through that experience with my father changed how I felt about death......I was no longer afraid of death.  Do I want to die?  Of course not, but I will not be afraid when my time comes because of the example of my father and mother as they prepared to 'go home'.  I know I will see them again. 

I remember when my father died....I didn't really understand how many lives he had touched until the graveside funeral....we had notified a few people of the funeral arrangements not thinking there would be a large crowd.  When I arrived at the internment site I was shocked to find some 400 people there, and more arriving all the time.  I know from the messages I have received in the last 24 hours that my mother had a similar impact in her life.  Art and Virginia led amazing lives, and touched many lives.  They raised 5 children, and now have 11 grand children, 14 great grand children, and 2 great, great grand children.....quite a legacy.

Around 12:30 pm Virginia's 5 children came together in another 'Zoom' call, talking and sharing for almost 2 hours.  Due to the current pandemic 4 of the siblings will not be able to be in attendance at her funeral.  Virginia will be interred in Spokane, WA with my sister, Hilary, her husband, Bob, and two daughters, Stephanie and Caroline in attendance this Thursday, April 16th.  The service will be video taped, and we are hopeful we will be able to virtually attend via 'Zoom'....I hope that works out.  A friend sent me the following artist's rendition of what my mother's moments after she left her earthly body may have looked like....

Painting by John Holcombe

....as she met Jesus for the first time.  I know how much she was looking forward to that moment.

Monday was a very emotional day for me and my siblings, as well as our significant others.  Sometime around 2 pm Tom invited me to help him install his new street sign pole.  I have a lot of experience digging post holes from my 9 months working at RORVR, so I took upon myself that task.  The pole is 10' long, so we made the ole 24+ inches deep.  Tom used this 2 part foam to set the pole, and it worked quite well.  In the following pictures you can see the foam slowly expanding until is was above grade.....

.....once it cures Tom will cut off the excess down to ground level.  It came out well, and it served to get my mind off of the morning's events.....

.....we had dinner with Tom and Darlene once again, and then shared a fire with them.  The sunset was beautiful once again.....

....and so came to an end the day my mother went home to be with my father.  My mother is at peace, and so am I.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!