On Wednesday one of our most beloved ward members returned home after fighting a battle with cancer. I don’t know if she had cancer before she and her family had moved out of the ward. I first learned about it at the Christmas party last year. She had lost a lot of weight and told her that she looked good. That is when she sprung the news on me “in confidence”. She said she had told only a few selected people – those who were her closest friends – which I learned yesterday was just about everybody. That seemed to be her purpose in life – making each person feel as though he or she was her best friend.
I have referred to her as Aurelia in my
blog and so will continue with it. She
was the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society when my family moved to
Oregon in 2015. I think she lived further southeast than anybody as it would take
her 45 minutes to just over an hour to get to church – depending on
the weather. But she was diligent in
making that drive and visiting those she loved.
She would come to the ward once a month to set up for lunch and
games. She loved the ward members. She loved to laugh. She loved playing games. She was so much fun to be around.
Even after she had moved out of the ward and no longer had a key to the
building, she would still come around for those once-a-month Wednesdays until
the weather turned. It made for a longer
drive. Sadly, she didn’t feel
connected to the ward she had moved into.
Boy, did they miss out! Aurelia
is one of the most Christ like people that I can think of. She didn’t gossip or speak unkindly of
anyone. If she did let an unkind word
slip (which was rare) she would immediate get on her own case and say that she
would have to repent. Everybody knew and
loved Aurelia. And had it not been for this strange year of masks and social
distancing the church would have been packed yesterday with those who
wished to celebrate her life.
It has been a tradition within many
wards to prepare and serve food to those family members who have traveled for
the funeral. As with many other
traditions 2020 has managed to cancel or provide opportunity for those to make
adjustments, we did not do the traditional luncheon. We were told that there would be 20 family
members. Before the services started, we
were there to prepare 20 sack lunches for the family to take with them as they
drove away. No social distancing in the kitchen. Only two people could be in the kitchen in order to accomplish that. I believe there were five of us.
There was no casket, no viewing of the
body. I don’t know if
Aurelia had been buried already, where, or surrounding events. Her family had wanted to hold services where
she had been comfortable and had served diligently. It was a nice service but we sat spaced out
and were excused right after the service.
At least three in the back rows (who were excused to leave first) went
to our cars and left the parking lot. I
wasn’t there to see
how quickly the rest had filed out.
Various ward members gave brief talks
before the family members were invited to share their memories. Her youngest daughter shared a memory of
being sick as a child – she’d been down
with the flu or a cold and Aurelia had gone toward her room to check on her
when there was some kind of crash that had encountered her leg. The child got out of bed to come to her
mother’s aid but became
disoriented and fainted. Each was
concerned about meeting the needs of the other.
When it was discovered that Aurelia
needed care, she was taken to the hospital but still concerned more about her
youngest daughter than of herself.
Aurelia left the hospital with 58 stitches in her leg. The speaker had checked out with no
concerns. That’s just the
kind of person Aurelia was –
always thinking of others more than herself.
It didn’t matter if we
were even blood related.
She had told me that she saw the cancer
as a blessing. I understand she was bed
ridden toward the end. Oh, how I have
missed her. How blessed Heaven is to
have her back.
