Grandma Borgen's Funeral

Dorene Marie Borgen

April 28, 1932, -December 22, 2008

The day after Christmas, the funeral for my grandma was held at Mueller's on Union and 10th Ave in Kennewick. As you will be able to see in some of the pictures, there was a foot of beautiful white snow that had just fallen this Christmas week, making it quite cold to be out at the grave side, but truly beautiful and peaceful at the same time.

The picture above is my all time favorite picture of my grandma. I think she looks like a movie star from the 50's. She was beautiful! In fact, some of my fondest memories of grandma, when I think of her beauty, was that she was always so stylish and always put together. I can hardly think of a time that she wasn't dressed up and all made up, even for the simplest of errands around town. When staying the night at her house I loved taking bubble baths with her special bubbles, she would let the bubbles grow until almost overflowing the tub. After she would let me put on some off her yummy smelling lotions, perfumes, and lipsticks that would be out on her bathroom counter. I felt like a queen. I loved it when my grandma came to pick me up on my birthdays in her red Chevy Impala, for lunch and a day of shopping.

She spoiled all of the grandkids with this special treat.

One of the most touching parts of the funeral service, for me, was when my little sister Megan got up to sing "To Where You Are", by Josh Groban.

Earlier in the week all of my family was asking her if she thought she would be able to make it through the song without crying? She practiced and practiced and was fairly confident she would be able to do it. She started the song beautifully but by the second verse she started getting a little emotional. She told me one thing she hadn't factored in when she had been practicing was that all of the people in the audience would be looking back at her crying. She said she was scanning the audience to try and find one face without tears and after checking the first 3 rows, found no one. So she decided to find me. She said when she saw that even I was crying, she just lost it.

She started skipping over some of the words in the second verse to try and regain composer but I loved that she made the effort to get out the line, "I believe that angels breathe". With my Grandma on oxygen, 24 hours a day, for this last year this line touched me deeply. I do believe that she is breathing easy now and in a much better place.

After a few minutes she motions for my brother Greg, who is already crying himself, to come up and rescue her. It was so cute and in the moment, very touching. I really appreciate them for sharing their talents with us and making it special for all who attended.

Here is a short video clip of the song.

(The funeral home video taped the funeral service for the family who weren't able to make it due to extreme snow conditions and for a cousin who had just given birth. Since the video of the song was available and this blog is like my journal I decided to add it as a keepsake for myself.)

(Pause the music at the bottom of my blog before playing)

As we said our one last goodbye today, of course my tears fell. I had sadness. I had a flood of emotions and memories. But I did feel grateful for the knowledge I have of the plan of Heavenly Father. I know that someday I will see her again. That she lives in peace now with out the ailments that burdened her for these last few years. I am grateful for the relationship that I had with her. I am grateful for the love we shared. I am grateful for this great experience of life, and for all the relationships I love and cherish. My grandmas included.

I will love you forever Grandma. "Till We Meet Again"