Margaret and Lola Jean

I went to a funeral today. Most of the time I hate them because they are full of people you don't know and who don't know you. Today was no different. It was the funeral of my great-aunt Ellen. I have found that even though it can be uncomfortable, funerals can provide a great environment to ask questions. What kind of questions? Any kind. Who are they, and how are we related to them? Where do they live and what do they do? What were they like when they were younger? What kind of trouble did they get into? Every family has some sort of secret, asking questions helps unveil those secrets.
I once sat at the feet of a great man who taught me the importance of my ancestors. He helped me to realize that every person who had any link to my family was cheering me on, even though they could not be there with me. They wanted nothing else but my success in this life. I had never thought about this before I heard it and have not been able to think of anything else after I was taught it. My grandmother died over 8 years ago. It is a rare occasion when her name is mentioned without a silence or a tear following it. We hold the utmost respect for her. She died when I was a teenager and thus at the time was suffering from a gigantic need of an attitude adjustment. Because of my snobbish ways I was never humble enough to get to know too much about her. This has changed in the eight years since she has been cheering me on. I believe with all my heart that it was she who pulled strings to allow me to see a baptism at the end of a long and hard mission in the British Isle. What makes me thing so? My friend, Rebbecca was baptized on January 20th, 2007 which was not only my last Saturday in the mission field, but also was my grandmother's birthday. And today I learned of yet another link that I have to my grandmother. Her very good friend was her sister, just as my very good and bestest friend is my sister. I looked at her sister's stern face today (she as been aptly nicknamed Stern face Lola Jean) and saw my grandmother. I'm not very good at keeping a stern face, but I would guess that it takes a certain amount of concentration. And I don't know for sure, but I like to hope that behind those stern faces are buried some very happy, choice experiences. That is all we want for those we love, right? Though I know that had it not been for my grandmother's stern face she would not have been able to raise my father the way she did, and had my father not been raised the way he was my mother wouldn't have looked twice at him, and therefore I would not be. I am well aware of the fact that a certain amount of sternness is needed. What do you think helped me get my much needed attitude adjustment? Even though it is needed from time to time, sternness is not needed all of the time. I like to think, but don't know for sure, that when Margaret and Lola Jean got together they took off their stern masks and had a good laugh, or cry, about the situations they had gotten themselves into. I look very much forward to the day when I can have one of these said session with my grandmother, Margaret.