Photo Essay on Molly's Funeral

Having forgotten to bring my cell phone along with me to the funeral, I have to thank Richard who took the following pictures.

My text with his pictures will be episodic, but that is what pictures in an album usually are -- small snapshots that help us remember what happened before and after these moments.

I will try my best to write and I forgive anyone who gives up reading before coming to the end, as I hope they will forgive me for text that may not hang together.

On arriving in Magrath, Richard spotted a deer.  He swung the car over to the side of the road, had Michael jump out and point to it and took the first snap shot once we had arrived in Magrath.  A deer, which the natural eye cannot see in this pictures, but as you can see, Michael saw in and was claiming the prize Richard had offered to the first persons who could sight a deer.

People had left the chairs that had been placed around the coffin now and we getting ready to leave Raymond and go back to Magrath for the family dinner. I was telling Richard that the town of Raymond thought that the Mormon temple was going to be built there, and had a hill picked out as the site for the building, naming it Temple Hill.  The temple was eventually built elsewhere, but the name stuck on the hill, so now we have the Temple Hill Cemetary here.  And that is where Keith McBridge was buried, as you can see from the marble plaque at the foot/head of the coffin.

I am pretty sure those are Braden Keeler's brothers across the road standing in front of the white vehicle.  Braden took me over to meet them.  They are as charming as he is.

There was a display in the foyer of the chapel.  Showing here is a quilt made by Molly.  Big M on the quilt for Molly. There are pictures of all of the families of her children on the quilt, probably transferred from a photo to a textile, and then incorporated into this quilt.  As well, at the top of the quilt is a wedding picture of Molly and Keith.  I can still feel my fingers running across each photo and thinking about the changes in their families from when the quilt was done to now.

Here is a page from a photo album displayed in the foyer.  Nadiene -- upper right hand picture -- looked as though she might leap off of the page.  Also, the two lower left pictures are of quilts Molly made, I think the one on the lower left being the famous one that won 5 ribbons at the Calgary Fair.  Please correct me, someone, if I am wrong.

Five Ribbons that the quilt won at the Calgary Stampede Fair
Five ribbons for the same quilt.
These ribbons were used to demonstrate Molly's devotion to excellence.
Not a stitch out of place. 
A five ribbon quilt, a five ribbon life.

A picture of Molly from a year book.

M.J. Johnson
Molly Janine Johnson

Miles (Jack) Johnson suggested the name for this girl -- name her Molly he suggested and that was fine with Bessie.  Later Bessie learned that Molly was the name of the heroine in the latest western he had been reading.  My thought is that Molly should be happy that the name of the woman in the western wasn't Penelope.

I wanted a picture of Ross McBride and his family and told Richard that.  Richard tried but he was more interested in getting a picture of Brayden Keeler taking the picture of Ross and Nikole's family.

And now here is Ross and Nikole trying to get that family of 7 children ready for a picture to be taken.  Four of their children on the left and three on the right. Ross and Nikole in the midddle.

A better time to have taken a picture was when these McBride children were singing at the pulpit.  The musical number was "Peace in Christ".  Richard noted to me afterward that each of them had an electronic device in their hand that held the words to the song.  Richard was arguing to me that those of us who grow old without keeping up with the latest technology will not be able to understand the direction the world is going for the young.

To give more background, when Molly's children decided she should move to a nursing home; they added up reasons why they thought the move should be made.  Molly wasn't eating.  She wasn't answering her phone.  "Wait," I said to Richard.  Sometimes I don't answer my phone when I am busy.  "Well, take a lesson," said Richard.  "The newest generation is used to have their calls or tweets answered within an hour or two or they think someone is dead."

This beautiful daugher-in-law and grandchild belong to Cammy and Flip Phillips.  

She was so generous telling me that she would let Richard take her picture and the picture of this sweet baby so that I could blog it.

And Braden was the same -- so sweet that father and daughter.

Here is a long shot of Molly and Keith's children and their partners.

LtoR: facing us
Nikole and Ross McBride, Lynda and David Pearson, Coreen McBride,
Terry and Michael Jones, Colleen and Doug Keeler

the dedication of the grave

This was one of the  touching moments of the funeral for me. Ross knelt on one bended knee, put his hand on his mother's casket and began the traditional Mormon graveside dedicatory prayer, "By the power of the Melchizedeck priesthood invested in me I dedicated and consecrate this as the final resting spot for ...."

I am sure most people can say the prayer by heart.  I have heard it many times, and although I have never offered it, I still can say it along with the person who is asked to do it.  I love its promises and the hope for a day in the future when we will all see each other again.

Many people added a rose to the top of the coffin.  Others took one from the wreath that was on top of the coffin.  I didn't do either.  But I looked at the beautiful wood on the casket. Just beautiful.

Removing the wreath and getting ready to lower the casket.

And that is it for the pictures Richard took.

Thanks to him I have had a chance to go back and relive some of these moments.

Arta