I went to a funeral today, in Lehi, Utah, about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City. (an area that’s grown so much in the last 25 years, it’s unhealthy). It was for my cousin who was 91 years old and sadly I hadn’t seen her in way too many years.

Because there’s a 24 year age difference between us, I sort of knew her growing up but we didn’t see them a lot. She had 3 daughters, all about my age but even then, I only knew them as distant cousins. The youngest of them died in 2002, from diabetic complications. I remember than when we did visit from Sandy, 20 miles away, we always left with fresh fruit or bottled vegetables. Her husband had a huge garden.

She was rare woman for in Utah, in that she worked as a secretary for a big fire brick factory in Lehi. Her daughter gave a “life sketch” today and said that she didn’t know until later that her mother always felt guilty after the GA’s came out and said women should only be in the home raising kids and supporting the husband.

She worked there 36 years, and was a well paid executive for many years. She also managed to get my brother-in-law a job there and he was there 38 years before he retired.

Her husband died in 2011, and she told her oldest daughter that it was time to sell their home in Lehi and she moving into a care center. So within a month, she sold it and moved to an nice place in Millcreek, Salt Lake City and was there until she died. She said that her mom was in good health until the last few months and had hospice care the last couple of weeks and then just closed her eyes and died.

I met her son-in-law, the widower of the youngest daughter and had a little indoctrination on doing genealogy for the church. He’s on a mission there now and goes 3 days a week full time. He explained how to make sure you’ve exhausted all of your lines that you have to have DNA tests and blah-blah-blah. (I’m not a genealogist and I quit feeling guilty about that years ago)

I’m not even sure why I’m posting this, it’s only of interest to me. I used to get all teary eyed at funerals but as I get older, it’s easier for me to remain kind of unemotional since I’m at the age that I might be there next. (although I’ve contacted the UofU and am donating my body for research and then they will cremate me and turn me over to my family). No Mormon funeral for me! I told my daughter I’d done that and she just kind of rolled her eyes.

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you all have a nice holiday.

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like a cool and smart cousin. I'm with you on the cremation issue. I live in Sandy. It's now hard to distinguish where Draper ends & Lehi starts. Lehi seems to double every year. Too many breeders to sustain healthy growth.
Merry Christmas to you as well.

Your cousin is old enough to be an aunt. That's a generation apart, age wise.

True, when the older generation goes, is another reminder we're next on the receiving end.

It may be in your best interest to put your wishes in writing, and even consider pre-planning your funeral - in case your family forgets or goes ahead against your wishes with theirs.

Did you know in Japan when a loved one dies they are typically cremated. Then it's ceremonial and customary to remove the bones from the ashes with chopsticks, by the family. The ashes are disposed, and the bones are saved in a special container or urn.

Yes. The Japanese are smart. There is no room for cemeteries. They place a high value on looking out for future generations.

They do have cemeteries. I saw some there while visiting in 2014. They are more concentrated than the ones we're familiar with as Americans, in closer quarters. You may see 2-3 graves stacked on top of each other, and urns where there'd be headstones, etc.

Japan also has many, many shrines. They are everywhere. What they lack in churches, they make up for in shrines - their primary religion being Shintoism. Some major shrines, lots more minor ones. All considered sacred and holy. The larger ones are tourist traps.

People congregate to them by the busloads every single day of the year. School buses, tour buses, you name it. They are a favorite of the Japanese tourist industry.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2016 08:27AM by Amyjo.