The Saddest Day Of My Entire Life

On November 16, 2009 I got one of those phone calls that you NEVER want to get. When I answered the phone my Mom was crying and immediately I asked her what was wrong. She told me to sit down and so I did. I am sure the next words that came out of her mouth were the HARDEST words she has ever had to say to anyone. She told me that my brother, Greg, had been in a car accident and had passed away. Immediately I broke down crying. I couldn't believe it. All I could think was no, not him, why him? He is the only sibling I have, he can't be gone. I called Jake soon after that to tell him and to let him know I needed to get down there ASAP. He came home as soon as he could. After talking it over for a little bit he told me to hurry and pack the kids and we would leave as soon as we could. Well...with packing and everything we ended up leaving at 10pm. Jake was amazing!! He drove us the entire way while listening to me sob in the passenger seat. We finally arrived around 5:30am. He knew how badly I needed to be there with everyone. After a weeks worth of planning we had the most BEAUTIFUL funeral!! I was honored to help with the programs, the memorial video and giving the closing prayer at the service. I have always tried to be there for my brother so I was happy that I had the opportunity to help prepare him to go on to the next step of his life.

Here are some pics of the service....

The boutonnieres worn by the Paul Bearers

The flowers were sooooo beautiful!!!

Helping Aspynn put a rose on her Uncle Greg's casket. Greg was such an awesome Uncle. The kids miss him sooooooo much.

I love this picture. I can't tell you how much Jake supported me through all of this. I don't think I can even fully understand it yet. All I know is that for the entire time I was helping to prepare for Greg's funeral Jake didn't once ask me to do anything. He did everything and didn't ask for anything. As a matter of fact I didn't even know how much all of this effected him until he came home from the funeral (I stayed in Boise for a while longer) and really had a chance to mourn the loss of his Brother-In-Law. He called me and was having a really hard time and all the sudden it hit me. He was taking such good care of me, he put his own feelings on the back burner and just then was realizing how hard all of this was. What a WONDERFUL husband I have. I don't think I could ask for anything more than a man that cares about me to this extent when I need him most!!!

After the dedication of the grave.

It has almost been 2 months since Greg passed away and I can honestly tell you that I miss him sooooooo much. I can also tell you that I have NEVER been so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. The knowledge that with death also comes life. That Greg's spirit goes on and that one day his body and spirit will be reunited. That he will walk without falling and that he will run without getting tired. I am so grateful for his knowledge. What an amazing man and example my brother was and I am sooooooooo proud to call him MY BROTHER!!! I hope that I can live in such a way that I will see him again.