Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Moira's memorial service

Sigh.......it's over and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was sad and overwhelming, but also peaceful and beautiful. I had no idea what to do for the service, so I left it in the hands of the pastor and the music director. She said some words, some prayers, etc. They sang some beautiful songs, one was Angel by Sarah McLaughlin, which is one of my favorite songs. She opened up the floor for people to speak. I didn't expect lots of people to speak, but I wasn't sure if anyone wanted to. Dave had asked her before the service if there would be time for people to speak and she had told us there would and he said he wanted to say something. I had no idea!! He had written something while at work that morning. He quoted part of a Walt Whitman poem and then said some beautiful and wonderful words after. He did amazing because he usually doesn't like to speak in front of people. He choked up a little, but did a wonderful job. I was so proud of him. :) My friend Karen, who I used to nanny for, said something as well. Then the pastor read the poem that my mom's friend wrote for us, Moira's Gift. I wanted to originally, but after thinking about it, I didn't think I would be able to. She did a wonderful job reading it. Our pastor also has a beautiful voice, so her and the music director sounded awesome!

It was nice having family and friends there. It made for a small intimate service. Probably around 50 to 55 people were there. It was so nice having Becky and Rachel here with their mom. We have been friends since we were 2. We spent so much time just laughing. Laughing about nothing and everything. We cried and hugged and just had a wonderful time. I miss seeing them! We usually only get to see each other at Christmas with family, their kids, etc. around, so it was nice to have them all to myself for a few days. My uncle came up from NYC, my cousin who lives in NH right now came down later because he couldn't get the time off of work. My brother was here with his fiance, my parents, and my 88 year old grandma and her new husband drove out from Michigan. Dave's family was here as well, which was so nice. We had other wonderful and good friends here too. Everyone who matters to us was there and that was wonderful!! After we had people over to our house for some food, drink, and laughs. It was nice to hang out and relax with friends and laugh with them and have a good time celebrating our daughter. I had ordered platters of food from a local place. A deli platter, a veggie platter, and a cheese, cracker, and pepperoni plate with grapes. Becky and Rachel's mom paid for the deli platter and then I paid for the other two plus tons of bread for sandwiches. I had received $350 in American Express gift cards from the old school I worked at as part of a gift they got for us. I used part of it to pay for the platters. Plus people brought food, etc. for us. It was nice!!

It was so nice and healing for me. I am glad we waited a month and a half to do the service. It wasn't so fresh in our minds, hearts, etc. It was still hard to do, but it was good. God I miss her like crazy and wish she was here with us. Sigh....I should have an almost 2 month old. It's just not fair.......

3 comments:

Cat's Litterbox said...

You're absolutely right Alison... it's not fair. I just want you to know that I think of you daily and I am so proud of your strength through this. You were blessed with a beautiful little girl and will love her forever. I pray that you continue to heal and know how much I care about you!!

Melissa Fiske said...

nope- not fair at all. but, i'm so happy to hear you had a nice time celebrating Moira with your close family and friends! i'm still praying for you!

russellbugs said...

I'm glad the service went well, and I loved seeing the pictures you posted of her memorial in your foyer. I think about you often, I'm happy you have this blog so I can read about you and Dave and Moira!