Family Email Exchange Too Good to be Missed.
Hello All,
I just wanted to say how great it was to see everyone at Gram's Celebration of Life today! So many beautiful faces and stories about a truly wonderful woman who touched so many lives. I've included below the link to the video that played during the celebration. Thank you to all who contributed photos - it was a tough task to choose just a few!
Perhaps you might have time for one more story?
During a late night of obsessing over my online video software, I became really frustrated. Photos that I swore were saved started disappearing, frames were glitching...it was late, I was tired, and the swearing kept waking the dog. Enough. I deleted everything and started over. I was thinking about what music to use, and I'd listened to enough sad songs to cry an ocean. Nothing was right. Steve even listened to a "Funeral Top 100" list with me, and then we were both crying. It was messy. And also...who calls it "Funeral Top 100", anyway? I had visions of Casey Kasem, still hard at it from beyond the grave...
In the back of my mind, one song kept playing. It was a medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World, sung with Hawaiian flavour by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. It was a mix of cheerful and sentimental, and felt right. I added it in, and realized that it was a perfect fit for the timing of the video. As I stopped and re-watched the whole video with the music now playing in the background, one frame suddenly grabbed my attention. It was a great photo of Gram, surrounded by golf buddies, holding her club and smiling bang at the camera, as always. At that moment, Israel sang "...where troubles melt like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops..." and it hit me. Lemon drops!
Why lemon drops? Well, Dad told me once that Gram's secret weapon for mid-summer golf was Taverner's Lemon Drops. Sweet and citrusy, they keep you hydrated, and give you energy to beat your kid at another round (sorry, Scott). And as my eyes filled, I had a little feeling that perhaps Gram had heard me stressing (it would have been audible for some distance) and decided to send me a reminder to look on the bright side, and calm down for Pete's sake. Mind you, I planned none of this, it just kind of happened that way. Now, you could say this was just happy coincidence, or maybe.....
Who knows? I do know that it comforted me in that moment, and I felt like she was smiling. From somewhere over the rainbow.
So, here's to Gram. And lemon drops.
Make sure to download the link below, and watch it using Media Player. It works best. Also, please feel free to email it to anyone I missed. Enjoy!
Love,
Lauren
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