Early Saturday we traveled to Utah. We were on our way to attend the funeral of
my younger brother whose short life was ended by cancer.
Snow fell most of the way making the drive messy and unpleasant. We followed our son with his wife and kids in their mini van. This part of Interstate 15 is called The Malad Pass. Malad means “bad” in the French language.
The drive took us 300 miles to my brother’s home.
Hundreds and hundreds of friends and family came to celebrate his life with his wife and children.
Sunday DH and I returned. By then the weather had cleared.
The same highway was now a thing of beauty thanks to a fresh coat of snow.
We were near home when we learned that my brother’s wife and her brother were there ahead of us. After the funeral they received word that their father, a widower, was in the hospital. They had gone to Idaho to be with him. DH and I joined the family at the bedside just minutes after this sweet man left his worn out body to join his wife.
Sail on little brother, father and devoted husband. Sail on dad and grandpa. You showed us how to live and left behind a great legacy.
That's me at the weddings
That's me at the graves
Dressed like the people
Who once looked so grown-up and brave.
Secret Gardens of the heart
Where dreams live on forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter.
Secret Gardens
Words and Music by Judy Collins
