Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 5 Nov 2015.<\/p>\n
In my last blog I wrote about how I felt after getting “a sign” regarding my decision as to where to inter my mom’s cremains. \u00a0 Today, I want to let you know about a serendipitous burial location for my mom’s best friend:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n My mom met Helen when we relocated to Florida in 1973. \u00a0The two worked together at Montgomery Wards and shared many common interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n After my mom died, I continued to send Helen, who had left the area, Christmas cards with an update on my family.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In early July of this year, I received the email below:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Just wanted to let you know that my Mother passed away on the 21st. \u00a0She was 89 years old and was as ready as anyone could be to go home to Jesus. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/span>My wife and I are going through her things at our house and I’ve noticed cards from you for many years. \u00a0I’m not sure exactly who you are or what church you went to but it seems you and my mother were close at one time or the other…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bill”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I emailed Bill and explained my relationship with his mom. \u00a0We corresponded back and forth via email discussing ways he could preserve his mom’s many pictures and mementos. \u00a0<\/span>Unfortunately, by the time we connected, he had tossed out the many letters my mom had sent Helen. \u00a0As he continued to go through his mother’s belongings h<\/span>e discovered a clipping his mom had kept of my marriage announcement in the newspaper and he sent it to me.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In genealogy we don’t often think about family friends as retaining our family information but seeing that clipping reminded me of the importance of checking outside the immediate family for records, too!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n About a month after his first email, Bill sent me the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “We finished up cleaning out my Mother’s apartment yesterday and that is a relief. \u00a0We’ve been going through her things when we can and it is so difficult as she had re-organized to a method we are not familiar with. \u00a0Things from the 20’s next to a package from some charity asking for money from recent years. \u00a0Just trying to organize the photos is tough enough.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The funeral went very well..\u00a0I’m sure there haven’t been many like it.\u00a0 The kids were all very supportive during her time in the hospital and hospice. \u00a0 \u00a0 I’m attaching the story [that was] read and my mothers Testimony. \u00a0Also pictures of her miracle cups. \u00a0She was convinced her cups could make a difference to someone so I am attempting to follow through with her wishes. Please forward parts that are interesting to you to anyone you would like…. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n We were going to record the service but after we saw the samples we realized that some memories should remain just that. …<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n My mother was engaged to one of the neighbors in 1981 (John) \u00a0after my Dad died in 1978 . \u00a0They were going to get married on the day after he actually died of a cerebral hemorrhage. \u00a0 \u00a0It was a sad time for her but it was life changing, again. \u00a0She ended up housekeeping and baby sitting for his Son and Daughter\u00a0in Law\u00a0in Miami. She did that for a while and they moved to Orlando. \u00a0She decided to stay and get her own apartment. Several years passed and money was an issue and the neighborhood was changing. \u00a0At that point I asked her to come back and stay with us while I was working. \u00a0 \u00a0 She moved back in with the couple again and raised their kids through the teen years in Orlando. \u00a0 [Then \u00a0we] found her an Apartment in a 55+ complex. \u00a0 She said she had never been happier!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Anyway, the point of the background: \u00a0During the service her deceased fiance’s son told me that his father’s Crypt was right over there and pointed to the first section of the Mausoleum that was very close. \u00a0Talk about shivers going down your spine! \u00a0 We had absolutely no idea it was within view although I have a vague memory that my mother said that he was buried somewhere in the place. \u00a0I know she had no idea! \u00a0She had no sense of direction at all! \u00a0We picked out the place and only had her over to approve of it. \u00a0It is such a beautiful place. \u00a0Our “ashes” bench is right next to her. \u00a0We put my fathers urn and his dogs urn in with my mother. \u00a0 \u00a0When we asked her in the hospital if it was OK she just showed indifference. \u00a0Perhaps his religious beliefs were a factor? \u00a0If she would have known that John was laid out in sight I don’t know what the answer would have been……………. “<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n So dear readers, what is the probability of a family member purchasing a cemetery plot for their loved one and only discovering at the funeral that “We had no idea that John was buried in direct sight of our area…………… \u00a0 It was so nice that we actually went there and had lunch a couple of times on our bench with my mother. \u00a0I think she really enjoyed it there. \u00a0If she would have known her beloved John was right in view” All I can say is, WOW!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n And the last email I received from Bill ties in his mom and my mom’s messages from beyond using butterflies:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Speaking of Butterflies: \u00a0The following is an excerpt from my\u00a0mother’s\u00a0“Book of Miracles”. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I flew from Miami to St. Petersburg to visit my son and family for Mothers Day. \u00a0I told Bill that I would like to go to church as a family on Sunday. \u00a0I enjoyed church, and afterwards, we went out to eat. \u00a0It was a lovely day. \u00a0When\u00a0we got back to the house we sat on the back porch for a while.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A butterfly landed on my hand and stayed there for a long time. \u00a0I could move my hand back and forth, up and down, and it still stayed there. \u00a0Finally, it flew to Bill’s hand , then to the\u00a0children’s\u00a0hands, one by one. \u00a0Then back to me it flew. \u00a0After it\u00a0had\u00a0visited\u00a0each of us, it flew back to the shed and stayed there a long time. \u00a0 It came out about the same time\u00a0every day that I was there. \u00a0When I left, they never saw the butterfly again.” \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 5 Nov 2015. In my last blog I wrote about how I felt after getting “a sign” regarding my decision as to where to inter my mom’s cremains. \u00a0 Today, I want to let you know about a serendipitous burial location for my mom’s best friend: My mom met Helen … Continue reading “A Serendipitous Burial Location”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[191,190,192,43],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-stories","tag-butterfly","tag-death","tag-friendship","tag-serendipity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}