Rufio’s Funeral

We got up this morning, had breakfast, got cleaned up, and went over to the church at 9:00.  The viewing was from 9:30 – 10:45 at the church.  We got everything set up, and then we practiced “The Family Is Of God” (the verse about Mom’s) w/ the great grandkids that were there.  They are so stinkin’ cute!

Then the grandkids sang, “Love Is Spoken Here.”  It was tough to make it through w/out getting teary-eyed.

The closing of the casket was incredibly hard, but also created a lot of sweet and tender moments.  This is one of my favorites … after they casket was closed all 4 girls flocked to Uncle Ray (Rufio’s brother) and they stayed in a group hug like this for quite a while.

The funeral service itself was perfect.  I had to share some memories, and I had prayed really hard that I would be able to make it through & say what I needed to say.  It helped to lighten things up a little bit b/c I shared some funny memories.  Then I finished by reading her testimony that she wrote back in 2001 that I had glued into the front of my Book of Mormon.  Josh was crying so hard that Uncle Ray told him to knock it off when Uncle Ray got up to talk.  It was really funny.  Nate also cried really hard, which surprised me.  I had fun telling him to “lock it up” several times, b/c that’s what he tells Olivia when she’s crying.

Her casket was a beautiful purple color, which is perfect since that was her favorite color.

This is a pretty shot of Mt. Timpanogos w/ the hearse & limousine.

I was snapping pics of the pallbearers before they took the casket out of the hearse and the funeral director asked me if I knew the laws about taking pics in a cemetery.  I was scared, b/c I didn’t know and I asked him what they were.  He said that if anyone takes a picture of the funeral director’s behind then that picture will be confiscated!  LOL!  It caught me completely off guard.  It was cool that the 4 Cloward boys were on one side of the casket & then Mike, Trent, Nate & Josh were on the other side.

The graveside service was really nice.  Dad gave the dedicatory prayer and did a great job.

  Jeri & her family

Jill & her family

Lisa & her family

Jana & her family

There’s a cool story behind this picture.  During my talk at the funeral I mentioned how the pearl necklace & earrings I was wearing were a gift from Rufio for my high school graduation.  She wanted me to have something nice that would last.  Trent (Jennifer’s son) came up to me and told me that Rufio bought him the black watch he’s wearing for the same thing!  That Rufio knew what she was doing when she got us something that we could use and appreciate for years and years.

  There’s another cool story behind this picture, too.  I took this on the way home back to the church from the funeral, b/c Mom & Dad LOVE Mt. Timpanogos and it looked so pretty.  Tonight at home Aunt Jill was looking through all the pictures and she pointed out the tiny little dots (inside the red circle) above Mt. Timpanogos and wondered if it was a speck of dust that had gotten on my camera lens.

I zoomed way in, and it was 2 birds flying away together over Timp!!!!!!  We’ve been saying all week that we haven’t felt Ruio’s spirit around, and it’s b/c she and Grandpa Jay are too busy catching up on the 25 years they’ve been apart.  This was a touching tender mercy, especially for Aunt Jill to notice the speck, b/c I never would have seen it!

We met back at the church where the Relief Society had a really nice lunch ready for us.  It made me happy b/c it was the traditional after-funeral Utah lunch of ham, “funeral potatoes”, and jello!  It was so great to see everyone talking and laughing and eating and enjoying being together.  After we ate, everyone pitched in to help clean up and the table and chairs were all put away by the time the men from Rufio’s ward came to put them away.  I love being a part of this incredible family.

We went back to Aunt Jill’s house and just relaxed, watched some football, took naps, talked, and I edited pictures.  Then at 7:30 I drove to Jonesy’s house and we drove up to Draper to meet Brenner at 8:00.  We ended up at Leatherby’s, and it was DELICIOUS!  They have the biggest scoops of small ice cream that I’ve ever seen.  However, the best part of the whole evening was talking & laughing & crying w/ these kindred spirits.  Heavenly Father for sure knew what he was doing when he put us together on our missions to Slovenija.  I’m beyond thankful that we’ve stayed so close for over 11 years!  We finished our meal & ice cream and then went and sat in Jonesy’s car and talked some more.  We finally called it a night at midnight b/c we were all so tired.  I got home & into bed at 1:00 am!

It was a long & emotionally draining day, but it was also a wonderful day full of tender mercies!