grandpa pete's funeral

On the morning of July 17th, I got a call from dad early in the morning to let me know that my Grandpa Pete (his dad) had passed away. Even though I wasn't very close to my grandpa, and I hadn't seen him in about 13 years- the news was still upsetting. Nathan and I had been planning on taking a trip next spring to visit my grandparents- and give the opportunity to meet their grandson. For some reason this was something that was really important to me. I really wanted to get a picture of Xander with my grandpa- since Xander is named after my dad, and my dad was named after my grandpa.

Anyway, I was extremely sad that I wouldn't get that opportunity and that I wouldn't get to see my grandfather again in this life. I knew right away that I wanted to be able to go to the funeral.

I am so grateful that I have such an amazing and supportive husband who has been so smart with our finances. Because of his fiscal responsibility, we were able to take a few days and fly to Virginia for the funeral.

The funeral service was lovely. It started with a private family prayer, given by my dad, back in the Relief Society room and continued in the chapel where my dad gave a life sketch and my Aunt Tabitha gave a fantastic talk. My Aunt Michelle read the lyrics to my grandpa's favorite song, "Forever Young"

Here is a video with the lyrics to the song. 

It was weird to hear other people refer to my grandpa as Paul. I always knew his name was Paul- but I have only ever heard him called Pete. Paul is dad! So it was freaking me out a little to hear anyone referring to Grandpa Pete as Paul. What was amazing though was hearing people talk about all the good things Grandpa had done in his life. I loved hearing about his tremendous spirit of service and all the people he helped and influenced for good. It made me kinda sad that I didn't make the effort to get to know him better while he was alive. 

I will always remember my grandpa's laugh, kind smile, and his big calloused hands. He did manual labor most of his life and  I remember that his hands showed it. I remember, as a kid, thinking he was a real manly man. I also remember him snoring reeeeeeally loud when he came to visit us. It sounded like a monster and scared the crap out of me! I also remember being so excited to have him at our house to visit though. I am grateful to have nothing but fond memories of Grandpa Pete and choose remember him as the larger than life manly man I saw in him when I was a child.

Here are some pictures of my grandpa that were on display at the church:

Me and grandpa together- when I was about 10

This is the smile I remember!

This picture wasn't on display but I wanted to share it anyway. This is a picture from the last time I saw Grandpa Pete, and the last time my dad's side of the family was all together.

After the memorial service the family headed over to Quantico National Cemetary for a pre-burial ceremony, where my grandma was presented with a flag and thanked for Grandpa's military service, and then my dad was able to dedicate the grave site.

Due to large number of funerals that they have there on the weekends, we were not able to be there for the grave dedication- just the person doing the dedicating- but we were all able to go back later in the day. Here are some pictures from the cemetary:

This is the symbol that will be on the permanent headstone, once it's ordered

The Relief Society from my grandparents ward put together a very nice luncheon where we were all able to visit as a family- and I was able to meet some extended family that I hadn't met before- or have no recollection of meeting because I was so young last time I saw them.  I was a slacker and didn't get many pictures, but here are the pics from luncheon:

And even though Grandpa Pete wasn't able to meet sweet little Xander in this life, I still got the picture I wanted with him; definitely not how I wanted or expected- but I love this pic. It will always be one that I treasure. 

Paul Sanders Jr. holding a picture of his dad, Paul Sanders, in one hand and his grandson, Xander Paul in the other.

Paul Sanders

"Pete"

3/9/1938 - 7/17/2013

Forever Young