Dearest Friends and Family...

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you all so very much for the love and comfort you have shown us.  We knew Kim was special to us and you have shared how special she was to all of you too.

Yesterday was a long day, sometimes hard, sometimes humorous, all of the time heartwarming.  Instead of being the center of our attention, she would have loved to be in the mix of it.  

The memories shared, the Pastor's message, the flowers, the nephews carrying their aunt's casket to the far side of the cemetery, the string of family and friends following the procession on foot and singing of "You are my Sunshine" in closing were all things we will remember fondly. 

Shane said to us that he will never forget the sight of arriving at the grave to turn and see the long line of people filing down from the church.  He said it was a heartwarming and an awesome scene. 

We went to Shane's farm afterwards. We shared more stories and recounted the visits and happenings of the day.  The big boys were off talking football, the little kids were running and playing in the yard and Fairy Garden and the rest of us sat together in the cool breeze of a warm day under the shade of their large trees.  No one person could have gotten around to all the guest today.  It was good to share the accounts of the day with each other.  It was a good and full day.

Together we read the cards, shared the messages and recorded the memorials.  Some cards were from people that didn't know Kim personally but cared that we were suffering a loss.  Other messages came from those that were hurting too because they loved Kim.  It was good to go through as a group too as Mom could identify this person as a United Methodist Woman friend or Shane could tell us that this person was a high school friend of his dads.  Some cards were from folks only a few of the family knew and others that maybe only Kim knew.  Messages that came from people not all knew were cards from Liz's friends and work, War Eagle Princesses and of course the Groundhog Poker group.  And County Road C was well represented.  We say this because when we might ask where this person lives, it seems like they either live on or just off of County Road C.  It became an inside joke as we would start to first ask, does this person live on Road C?  It appears to be a good thing to be on the "C" list.

We did not want the day of fellowship to end and so our family changed into our Syracuse VB t-shirts and headed to watch Mackenzie play volleyball.  Our "Mac Attack" had the largest cheering section.  Kim would have thought is right and fitting that we would cheer the team on to their victory as she was their biggest fan.

We will gather the messages shared during the service and post them a little later.