Strawberry Patch

Carter 5 Years 6 Months

Papa

I've known the day was coming for a while.  Papa hadn't been in the best health for the last few years, and how many 35 year olds have all 4 of their grandparents alive and living at home??  I am sure the answer is not many.  I'm not gonna pretend like Papa was a perfect man...he definitely had his faults and they were apparent to some people more than others...but besides that one time right after I had Carter and he made the mistake of commenting on my weight, he's always been sweet and loving to me.  According to Craig, Papa must have done something right, because he helped raise one of the best men he's ever known.

Thankfully I had the chance to see him one week before he died.  His final words to me were "I love you," and I left KY sad, but at peace.  When I got home, I sat down with Charley and we had a long talk about things.  She was upset that I didn't let her go with me, but I told her I wanted her to always remember Papa sitting in his chair saying, "Sis, get over here and see me!"  She said, "He wouldn't have said that.  He would have said Jess...Jess...I mean Charley, get over here and see me!"  haha.  And she was right.  That is exactly what he would have said.  She told me that while I was gone she realized Papa would never know baby sister....of course, I hadn't thought about that.  I told her it could be hers and Carter's job to tell baby sister all about him.  

On the day before Papa's funeral, I asked Granny Katherine if I could look through some pictures.  One of Papa's favorite stories to tell me was of the day I walked up to his house and told him very matter of fact that I was going to teach him how to dance.  Granny would always chime in that it was so cute, and she took our picture.  I found the picture, and Granny let me have it.  

Funeral and drive by visitation...

Losing a loved one is hard, but dealing with death during a world wide pandemic is something I really dreaded.  People and hugs tend to make loss a little more bearable, and that wasn't possible under the circumstances.  The funeral home was so wonderful, and they went above and beyond to let all of us attend the funeral, despite the state recommendation of 10 people.  According to Carter, loss is very hard if you can't say good-bye "like in that church where Papa was."  The funeral was private and sweet, but the part that made me the most emotional was the small town funeral processional.  There is just something about respect given by total strangers pulled off to the side of the road, and I just kept thinking about how neat it was that we drove right by Granny and Papa's house...he went home one last time, in more ways than one.

I couldn't stand the thought of not being able to see anyone from the family, so I proposed the idea of a Frizzell Drive Through Visitation.  The idea didn't go over too well at first, but it was reluctantly agreed on...thankfully!  For well over two and a half hours, 108 cars, filled with over 230 people, drove by to pay their respects.  The weather was beautiful, and it truly was the sweetest way to honor Papa...we all talked about how much he would have loved it!