Unfortunately our wonderful vacation with family in Chelan and North Bend, had one pretty major dark cloud casting a shadow on our time together.
On the day we left Chelan and drove to North Bend we received the very sad news that my dad's older brother, my brother and my uncle passed away. He had been in declining health but no one anticipated his death would happen so soon. My parents actually had travel arrangements to go see him as soon as they left North Bend, and then they moved those travel plans up when he began to rapidly decline -- and then within an hour of their changing their flight to the next day they received word that my uncle died.
This was my father's only living siblings, and oldest living friend. The loss had (and still has) a very big impact on him.
In the hours and day following my uncle's death, we learned that my uncle's immediate family (his wife and children) had no plans for any memorial or funeral in the immediate future, which disappointed all of us.
So... after a little brainstorming and creativity, since my dad's family was all together spending time together, we decided to hold a memorial service for my uncle.
It was very heart-warming how my whole family came together to hold a very beautiful, intimate memorial service in 24 hours time. I gathered pictures, and organized the program. My mom and dad choose Bible verses and songs. My brother planned where on his property we should hold the service, and arranged the layout. His girlfriend printed out the pictures that I choose and created a beautiful prayer card and program for the service. My hubby arranged video cameras and amplification for the service. Our children memorized Bible verses to recite, and all the adults who had met my uncle wrote eulogies to share.
The result was an incredibly meaningful celebration of my uncle's life by his loving family, and it gave all of us some closure, and a place to take our fond memories of him.
My hubby is still compiling the video footage, but here are some pictures of the service:
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