Where the Past and the Present Collide . . .

Where do the Past and Present Collide?

At a funeral for an 89-year-old man.

A brother-in-law.

An enigmatic soul.
That's where.

It's a little disorienting.

Dizzying, really.

Meshing time;

personas;

change.

Keenan, Shirley, Jeanette, Jolene (DeMoin's oldest daughter), Verla, Carol, Amy J.

Shirley, Carol Lee, Jeanette, Lucy 1942

Verla 1947
Shirley made her bonnet.

Jeanette, Shirley, Lucy. Front, Verla, Mama, Carol 1960 

  A $10,000 (unless they were jesting) Cedar Casket,
built by our cousin, Osa Figgins's son.

Carol was talking to DeMoin's cousin, Scott, telling him
she remembered when he fixed DeMoin and Lucy's furnace while we were there.
"I didn't fix it," Scott replied, and pointing to me, said,
"her husband did."

 Effie, another daughter.

Jolene and Effie were with their dad 24-7 for the last five weeks of his life.

Lucy and Mama; Effie and Brent West Layton 1965

 Shirley & Keenan

 Jolene with Effie's daughter, Krista, and her son, Hudson.

Jolene 1951

Jeanette, Verla, Carol, Juanita, and Lynn 

Jeanette, Lynn James, Shirley, Verla, Carol Lee Cedar Mountain 1951

 . . .with Amy Jayne

Amy Jayne, Brent, and Keenan at the cabin. 1966

 Dale Sorensen at his brother's casket.
An older sister, Earlene, and older brother LaDru
were also there.
The three boys were never called LaDru, DeMoin or Dale.
They were "Duke", "Deak", and "Doc".
Earl, a twin to Earlene, was just Earl, named after their dad.

 Dale and Margaret with their daughter, Jeanette 1959

 Lynn, Juanita, Donna Chamberlain Graf and Jeanette

Juanita and Donna were classmates at Valley.

Donna is my Forever Friend (and cousin).

Donna in high school 1954

DeRay, Jeanette, Juanita coming in from visiting Lynn at the herd. 1957

Lynn playing football in high school.  1948

Lynn, Jerry, DeLoy Orderville 1940

DeLoy, Jerry, Lynn with Mama 1960

 Verla, Roma, Carol, and Art Tait.

Verla, Roma, Carol and Lana Gale. 1960

YEA VALLEY; YEA HIGH; YEA YEA VALLEY HIGH.

Junior Varsity Cheerleaders. Counterclockwise: Roma, Verla, Verda, Lenise 1961
High School Cheerleaders: Verla, Cashe, Lenise 1964

 The mortician, Dennis Mosdell talking to Donna, Lynn and Juanita.

Dennis married our cousin.
Did I mention that the bishop is our double-first cousin's grandson?
Robert Cox, son of Bill and Myrna Cox.
Bill is the son of Amy Esplin and Charlie Cox.

 Grandchildren and great grandchildren singing

Families can be together forever

Lucy and DeMoin have 91 posterity.
"Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;. ."
By contrast, we have 13.

We each had five children.

Jeanette Sorensen Esplin and Jeanette Esplin Hugh 
This is the first time I've seen her,
since I held her as a baby.

Jeanette holding Jeanette 1960

Jeanette Sorensen married our cousin Tim Esplin;

so there has been a Jeanette Esplin in Orderville 

with only a few years break for at least 80 years.

Yes, she was named after me

but they never told her

so what good did it do?

In loving memory of DeMoin Sorensen

born April 24, 1928 in Mt. Carmel, Utah; 
died May 12, 2017, in Cedar City, Utah.

The Cedar City Equestrian Pointe Ward Relief Society

prepared a meal for 180 people after the service
before the burial in Orderville.

Our Sister, Lucy

Lucy

DeLoy Esplin, 1-11-2013

Lucy was mortal

As each of us are.

Now, she's immortal

As each of us will be.

(Used without permission, as usual.)

I'm not partial to pictures of caskets
but I like this one
because it tells a story.

Lucy knew exactly what she wanted in a casket.

She hoped to get to Orderville to pick it out.

Since that didn’t happen,

her family chose one as close to her wishes

as they could.

White birch.

Pink.

Hand-crafted by our cousin Osa’s son.

But that’s not the story;

Except that most people don’t care to

pick out their own caskets.

Verla told Dennis Mosdell,

the mortician from Kanab,

that no one had more fun dying than Lucy did.

Dennis is married to our cousin Lurana.

Actually Lurana is more than a cousin.

Her mother, our mother’s niece,

was Mama’s best childhood friend

growing up on the Ranch

in bucolic Moccasin.

Dennis has some pictures of Mama

and his mother-in-law, Jennie,

that he promised to send us.

Verla saying how much fun Lucy had dying,

prompted Dennis to tell us

this story at the viewing in Cedar City:

“Lucy called me everyday for weeks

with instructions on how to take care of her

and fix her up for her viewing.

She told me that she didn’t want

her makeup to run;

and not too much.

She told me how to fix her hair.

She asked me to drive over from Kanab

so she could talk to me in person

but her daughters persuaded her

that they were sure I got it.

I told Lurana as I was working on her body

that I was sure Lucy was standing right beside me

making sure I did it right.”

She did look beautiful and at peace.

Her makeup was just right.

After the services,

I say to Verla,

“Well, that’s a different side of Lucy

than we ever saw.”

We didn’t even know she played Boggle.

Evidently, no one could beat her.

Why didn’t she bring it to our Sisters' Retreats?

I wrote to our brother, DeLoy,

who was unable to attend.

“Lucy's funeral was exceptionally nice.

Everyone was impressed

with Effie, Jolene, and Bryant's talks,

also Jenifer, her granddaughter;

and superior singing

by Jolene's and Effie's daughters.

I Know that My Redeemer Lives

When it’s Springtime in the Rockies,

I’ll be coming back for you.

If the Savior Stood Beside Me

And the 84 grand- and great-grandchildren

I Am a Child of God

The whole service was inspiring

and left the rest of us wondering

what anyone could say about us at our funerals

and who would sing?”

Lucy's brothers and sisters, taken at the church later in the afternoon just before traveling home (after we had taken off our lace collars and silk dresses):  Verla, Lynn, Jerry, Jeanette, Carol.  Absent:  DeLoy; & Shirley who went home before we remembered to take pictures. She hates to have her picture taken so she would have been happy to miss it.

 DeRay and I are interested

in cardboard or disposable caskets.
***

My Grandmother Heaton

was the first one to die in her big family.

At the funeral,

they took a picture of all her brothers

and sisters

and inserted her in.

THE CARROLL FAMILY - Grandma inserted back row center.

We could insert

Lucy,

Shirley and DeLoy

in our family photo above.