I am sharing 3 of my paintings/cards with this post. These paintings remind me of flowers on Memorial Day. The words on the card reminds me of the “thanks” I feel for my deceased relatives. Del’s and my grandparents and parents used to decorate the graves, just as we do now. They picked flowers from their yards, which I find hard to do in Idaho Falls as I can’t find many in bloom yet. I don’t know how they found any either. I remember Peony flowers as ones they picked for decorating graves. Perhaps that’s the problem! We tried growing them several times, but have never been successful!
It is
Memorial Weekend in May 2016. Del and I have the tradition of visiting the
graves of our relatives in Idaho Falls, Shelton, Blackfoot and American Falls,
all in Idaho. While driving I started reminiscing about the past, one of the
best reasons for dropping off flowers at their grave sites. As we drove to the
Rose Cemetery in Idaho Falls and to Shelton, visiting my grandparent’s graves,
I wrote a letter to my parents (sorry it’s a bit lengthy) in an attempt to
share with them some of my memories. This is my letter to them:
Hi dad and
mom,
We
couldn’t decide what to do for date night, so we grabbed some flowers and
headed to visit Rose and Shelton Cemeteries. We followed the same routine as we
always do, stopping at Sherie’s grave first. We laid a few flowers by her tiny
little grave marker, the size reminding us she was a stillborn infant. How you
managed through having 3 babies develop full term, but die before being born,
is beyond me. How grateful I am to know and believe in a resurrection/life
after death, and for ordinances that allow us to be with our loved ones in the
next life! I guess that’s how you made it through those times too. Her plaque
reads “Tibbetts” with an “e” instead of an “i” but that’s okay! I know she’s my
sister. Amazing we’ll have 3 more siblings in the next life, if that’s the
Lord’s plan.
After
being there for a short while we headed to the other plots, looking for the
wishing well across the street, designating which path to go down. It’s hard to
believe that wishing well is still there. Grandma and Grandpa Tibbitts’s grave
are easy to spot, once on the right road, as it faces West towards our car,
when most of the other surrounding tombstones face the East. We laid more
flowers next to their plot and some on Sydney’s, Maria’s and Gladys’s too. I
can’t help but think of Glady’s dying just months before her wedding. How sad
those times must have been. That also brings back memories of you dad, with her
as your sister. Those are such fun stories!
I love
going to these graves because of the memories that start to naturally flow.
From this cemetery, Grandma Tibbitts is the only person I knew and as I walked
away from her grave I started sharing with Del some of my memories of being
with her. I can picture in my mind the many Friday night sleepovers I had at
her home, following with a smorgasbord of breakfast choices!! There were all
kinds of foods to choose from, not just out of her cupboard, but sitting
prepared and ready to eat, spread over her kitchen table! I also remember her
many empty bottles of perfumes and lotions that I’d sit for hours playing with,
imagining them to be people or anything else I could dream of. I remember
mowing her lawn after school and in the summers, and the Twinkies and soda pop
she always had for us. Why I didn’t mow her lawn for free, I’ll never
understand! When I think of mowing her lawn, I always think of the letter she
mailed to me with payment for a time I couldn’t mow due to being sick. She was
paying me for the mowing job you did, dad. I still have that letter.
After
leaving Rose Cemetery, we headed toward Shelton. I always love looking at your
old home on Highway 26, mom. I only know it from when Uncle Wilford and Aunt
Wilma lived there, but your stories of your early year’s runs through my mind
as we pass it, looking at the small home and the farm land. I try to visualize
you surrounded by cats and dogs, and even mice! It’s a little hard to picture
that, but photos of you come to my mind and I can only imagine how it must have
been. Knowing the Shelton church is just down the road from this place, it
brings back memories of Stephanie and Josh’s wedding reception being held
there, and of the story you’ve shared of sitting in the window sills during
church dances watching the older kids while your dad, the Bishop, chaperoned.
Those are fun stories!
At the
Shelton Cemetery it was a bit windy and cold, typical for Memorial Day in
Idaho! The trees shaded what was left of the evening sun. We laid flowers next
to Grandpa and Grandma Burtenshaw’s grave, glanced around at all the other
Burtenshaw graves and jumped back into our car to get warm. The drive was
beautiful and the memories this brought into my mind made the little extra
distance to Shelton worth it. I typically can’t muster up past memories as well
as dad does, but as we drove away I started once again sharing memories with
Del of Grandma and Grandpa Burtenshaw from our visits to their home on H
Street.
I remember
their 3 story home (or 2 ½ story one might call it). I thought that 3rd floor was so cool. I didn’t know anyone
who lived in a 2 or 3 story home, that’s just not how the California homes were
in those days, so visiting grandpa and grandma in a 3 story home was
fascinating to me. I remember playing games in that upper room. Was it as big
as I remember it being? I picture 2 or 3 queen or full size beds in it.
Remembering that room also reminds me of two things that I thought were unique
to the area. Now living in Idaho Falls, these things are common, but back then,
they seemed almost magical, creating a sense of being somewhere uniquely
different. At night, I’d look out the upper window, and see people getting off
or on buses. I later learn about the INEL (called by different names over the
years) and now realize they were either returning or heading to work. This
memory takes me back to dad’s story of Delmer leaving Gladys candy, gum and
other small gifts in her mailbox when he returned from the INEL in the middle
of the night. I love knowing that Grandma Tibbitts raced her to the mailbox
each morning, hoping to get the surprise first. What a fun story (although
mixed with sadness, like I mentioned above). Back to my story…I also remember
hearing the train. I still hear it now and then, even in my own home further
from the tracks, but back then, it seemed magical. I had never been on a train
and I imagined people traveling to fun and interesting places. I have one other
memory I want to share. I wonder if you’ll remember this. On one of our trips I
got an extremely bad earache. My bed was in the upstairs room on the 3rd floor, but I couldn’t sleep due to the
extreme pain I felt. Dad gave me a Priesthood blessing and I quickly fell
asleep afterwards. The next day the doctor discovered I a blister on my eardrum
popped.
Well…that’s it for now. This is long enough. These memories have led to more, and I’m sure as we continue to travel to the Blackfoot and American Falls Cemeteries I’ll begin to have memories of Del’s family too. This is truly a blessing of living in Idaho, where many of our relatives lived. It’s one of our favorite family traditions.
Happy
Memorial Day!!
Love,
Trudy
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