Yesterday Dennis and I attended the funeral for a woman who was 105 years old.
I have never even known someone close to her age.
Since I am married to a man who believes
"it is better to be a half hour early than 1 minute late,"
the Methodist church looked like this when we arrived.
So to back track, about a week ago my Dad called to say that Marie Carnahan died.
I had to think for a minute who he was talking about.
Wasn't she a friend of Mom's? He said, yes, they had been friends since the 1940s.
Then after emailing my Uncle Don, I learned that Marie was actually
close friends to my Grandma (who died in 1984)
So after we hung up I found her obit in the paper and noticed that Marie Carnahan was 105 years old!!
She became a widow in 1942. So she outlived her husband by 70 years!
She also outlived her 2 children. And she never had any grandchildren.
I was interested in attending her funeral.
I felt certain my Mom and my Grandma would have wanted me to.
But I had one problem with that. The twins had slept over the night before,
and Amy was counting on me to keep the twins all day since she was up at 6th grade camp with Macie.
So, I sat them down and explained what a funeral was all about.
As it turned out, Kylie ended up being able to care for them.
I mean no disrespect at all by saying this, and I'm quoting my 3 year old granddaughter,
and remember she is only THREE....
but when I told her about the change of plans,
and that she was not going to the funeral with us after all, she looked disappointed and said,
"But I want to see the dead girl."
For that reason, and many more, it's best she and her brother were not there.
Much as I love them!
With all her children gone, and no grandchildren, she is survived by her son in law, Lloyd.
When Marie's daughter was dying back in 2005 he promised that he would look after her Mom.
And he did. There will surely be a special place in heaven for a man like this.
(I hope it is not my camera that is upsetting the woman in blue.)
My Uncle Don (see him standing in the midst below) spoke at the funeral
about how he milked Marie's cows back in 1942 after her husband suddenly died,
and she always remembered that kindness.
Marie had been attending this same Methodist church since 1961,
and lived right around the corner from it until she was 103.
She spent the last 2 years in a care home with 3 other women.
This church is just a couple blocks away from my early childhood home
so I wanted to take a picture of it also on our way home.
I'm not even sure now which house was ours, we whizzed by it so quickly.
I had never seen so many people who wanted to stand up and speak at a funeral before.
Here are a few things I learned about Marie:
1. "She was a bottomless pit of service."
2. Said one of her caregivers, "A week before Marie died, at age 105,
she sang a song at the dinner table to welcome a new resident."
3. She was constantly in service, even washing dishes in other people's churches.
(I heard she always ended up helping in the kitchen where ever she went.)
4. Even though she loved hiking and walking,
her most favorite thing EVER to do was talk with friends!
5. "No one understood better than Marie if you wanted friends you needed to be a friend."
6. She loved children with a passion.
She once asked her pastor if he had any grandchildren and when he proudly said 5,
Marie teared up.
She waited a long time for them, and they never came.
I kept thinking of what a giving, caring, and serving person she was
in spite of life not turning out as she wanted.