The week before Christmas, my 96 year old grandfather, Carl J Beecroft, passed away peacefully in Mesa, Arizona and then 2 days later, my own mother, Rita Beecroft, passed away in her home. They both were blessed to join their spouses that have already gone on before them. My mother passed away minutes after we arrived in Provo, Utah as we drove our son Steffen up to take him to the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, December 19th. (check his blog for pictures and his addresses
http://www.slassen.blogspot.com/ I will keep his blog updated while he is on his mission).
I called my mother's home the night she passed, just in time to have my sister Lisa, tell me moment by moment what was happening as my mother took her final breaths. It was such an emotional time in our lives.
We left Steffen in Provo on Wednesday and drove down to Mesa to attend the two funerals; my mom's on Friday and my grandfather's on Saturday. We celebrated their lives with lots and lots of family and friends around. Our other 8 children and their children were able to be there with us. It was good to see loved ones we don't get to see as often as we would like. Funerals can be a Family Reunion time and that is what these became. The programs were lovely, with music and words that brought the Spirit of the Lord so close. It helped us focus more on eternal things and upon our Savior Jesus Christ at a time when the world celebrates his birth. I felt such peace and the comfort of the Holy Ghost that all is well with them. It was hard to leave my mother's home and all her and my dad's belongings. The house feels so sad now and it is hard to realize that their home will never be the same again. We have the difficult task as children to now distibute the material things they left behind. They made it a lot easier by leaving a maticulous letter of how to begin this process. My parents were both very prepared and organized and this helps so very much. We as siblings will return again to be together in a month or so and figure our the rest.
We are home now in Camarillo and have enjoyed having all our children and grandchildren around us for Christmas (except Steffen). We got an e-mail from him this week and he had a very Spiritual Christmas there in the MTC, so we are happy he too felt the Spirit of Christmas more than ever this year. He is excited to be a fulltime missionary for our Savior and take the message of the restored church of Jesus Christ to any who will listen and ask if it is true. He will be in the MTC until January 9th, 2008 and then fly out to Washington, D.C.
If you care to read my mom's and grandfather's obituaries and sign their guestbooks, please go to this link:
http://www.legacy.com/azcentral/Obituaries.asp?Page=SearchResults You have to click on "modify search", type in Beecroft in the Last Name Box, and click the drop down menu for the last 30 days of obituaries to find theirs.
Love and peace to all of you and Happy New Year 2008
Debi and John and family
