Death in the Family

Friday morning we recieved a phone call that my aunt, Leslie Crevier, died at 5:45 in the morning. Leslie was diagnosed with cancer a year and a half ago and fought a remarkable fight that ended that morning. Leslie was my brightest, spunkiest aunt and she always made family get togethers and activities more fun. She was a hair dresser who had done my hair my entire life. She lived in Brookings, SD so whenever she would come to MN to visit she would have all sorts of clients come to my grandma's house and cut hair. Most of my memories of her are in Grandma's kitchen, listening to her tell story after story. I will miss her very much. She was survived by her husband Marc, and three adult daughters, Kelly, Wendy, and Kari.

Here is a Link to her Obituary and a picture:

http://www.webfh.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=185464&fh_id=10308
The reviewal was on sunday and the funeral was on monday. We drove down sunday morning. It's about a five hour drive from where we live. The drive was very pleasent and I enjoyed sizing up the different equine facilities that we passed. We arrived at the funeral home around 3 pm for a private, open casket viewing for the family. I had not seen her for over a year. She was so thin and gaunt, it didn't even look like her. My mom is a nurse, and she had gone down and spent alot of time helping take care of her, so she knew how Leslie looked near the time of her death, but it always comes as a shock for someone like me.

We stayed through the entire closed casket reviewal as friends came to offer their support. Many tears were shed and there were alot of hugs that went around. After the reviewal the family went to eat at the HyVee, an interesting buffet at a grocery store. Kind of an interesting place to eat.... My Uncle Marc said it is where they often went on dates.

Afterwards we went to Marc and Leslie's home. Leslie had designed gardens for around their home and Mark maintains them maticulously. The garden is a beautiful place with ponds, bridges, walking paths, statues, etc. It was a beautiful and somber experience.

After our garden tour we went to Marc's sister's (Karen) house, where they had remodeled a barn into a bunk house. Our entire family stayed either in the bunk house or in Karen's home. Then we went back to Marc's house where we sat around a campfire, talking and laughing, enjoying our time together as a family. Our entire extended family all get along quite well, so it was a very special occasion.

We slept in the bunk house (Eric snored!!) and the next morning went to Perkins for breakfast, where we met up with other relatives that could not make it until monday. Then we went to the funeral, a lovely service in which Leslie's life was celebrated. Our entire family are strong Christians, so we celebrate that we will someday see Leslie again.

The drive to the burial site was made special because we drove through the gardens Leslie had designed. It was one last reminder of the beauty she was capable of creating. The wind was blowing strong at the cemetary, but the sun was shining. Tears flowed freely. As a family we embraced and held eachother. It was a sad, but beautiful experience. I can't describe what it is like for a family going through this kind of situation, when everyone loves eachother so much, and the person who has died is loved so much.

We had a meal at the church afterwards and then left. It was a beautiful, sad time.