In Memory of 3

This was one time no one in the congregation cared that the funeral service was now passing the 2 hour mark. I'm pretty sure that everyone would have sat through even longer. It was a beautiful service...flowers everywhere. Stories were told of Ron, Jed & Jordan. Some made us laugh, others brought tears streaming down our eyes faster than we could wipe them away. There were a few things that impressed me quite a bit. Ron was a truck driver & traveled a lot. He used to hand out things to people about the gospel where ever he went. Jed kept a lot of journals...his thoughts, feelings, etc. He had some pretty wonderful things written in them. Jordan was said to have "set the bar high" for his friends, family & younger generation. He was a great husband & father...Shelley was absolutely in love with & adored him!

At the graveside, I watched my wonderful Grandma. She has had a hard time. In addition to all the emotional pain of those she has lost in such a short time, she fell and broke her hip when she went to the crash site, had surgery, developed pneumonia & was being transported that day to the physical therapy center. Of course, under the circumstances they made a stop at the funeral. You can tell by her sweet face that she is just getting worn out...physically & emotionally. Bless her sweet heart!!


The graveside service was sad. It started with the dedicatory prayers, the pall bearers then put their boutonnieres on each casket. They then had the grandchildren & Jordan's children release white balloons into the sky. Three of the balloons had little notes attached to them...one for each of them, I assume.


The kids then placed things on each casket.


Bags of m&m's on Ron's casket...


Little toy airplanes on Jed's casket...


And teddy bears on Jordan's casket...


As they were doing this, one of Jed's friends did a couple flyby's. Jed had flown over Grandpa's graveside service in the exact plane that they crashed in...it was his & Grandpa's plane. There was not a dry eye when he did it. He flew several times over the service, very slow & very low. It was a very thoughtful tribute to Grandpa. It was also the same plane that Grandpa had fallen off of that caused his death. We are all trying to decide for ourselves now whether that has any significance or if it's simply coincidence. Maybe it's just the fact that they loved that plane & spent a lot of time around & in it. It was only fitting that a flyby be done for Jed as well.


At the end, everyone just stood there. No one wanted to move. From the beginning, the thing that was so incredibly hard to believe was that all 3 were gone. It really hit home when you start putting all the "3" combinations together..."Life Sketch of", "Life Sketch of", Life Sketch of"..."Casket Bearers for", "Casket Bearers for", Casket Bearers for"..."Dedicatory Prayer", Dedicatory Prayer", "Dedicatory Prayer"..."Passed away August 7, 2009", "Passed away August 7, 2009", "Passed away August 7, 2009"...3 Hearses, 3 Caskets. It hit us over & over & over again. As the day went on, everyones hearts felt heavier & heavier.





So now, our goodbyes have been said, we've honored their lives. How does life for Regina & her girls, Shelley & her kids go on? My cousin told me..."Right now we are all in shock. It doesn't feel real. One of these days after things settle down, it will hit us that it really did happen". We will always remember Ron, Jed & Jordan. And we will continue to pray for their families for quite a while, hoping that it will continue to ease their pain. We love you all very much. We love you Ron, Jed & Jordan. We'll remember you well!