Festival of Henry

I just arrived at Wyn's house from the St George viewing. What a wonderful reunion we all had seeing all the family! And there was one family, the Hair's, that I just learned wasn't really in our family tree. That was a bit of a shock to me! Dad always treated them as if they were part of the family. When the family had lived in Phoenix, Dad was their Home Teacher. When they moved to Southern Utah 25 years ago, he would always make it a point to stop by and say hello and bring some grapefruit.

My dear cousin, Meri, said that this is the Festival of Henry! This is exactly how dad would have wanted it. So many people, talking, laughing, and enjoying being together. No somberness, just pure joy! Brandon was requested to play one of his grand piano pieces near the end of the evening.

To keep in tradition with my dad, I brought a basket full of limes with a sign that said,

"Dad would always bring fresh Arizona citrus to his Utah family and friends.
Please takes some fresh limes!"

The basket was placed at the end of greeting line, as one last gift from D Henry to his friends and family. So many people smiled when they saw the basket, and everyone took one. I feel that people wanted to make sure that everyone visiting had ONE LAST gift of citrus from my dad. There were many smiles when people saw the limes. Everyone said, "oh, he loved to bring grapefruit to us!" Oh, how he touched us with that small gift of fresh grapefruit/oranges. LaMont said he saw one person break down and start crying when they saw the citrus.

There was a steady stream of family and friends from 6:00-7:45. Another testament to us that this is what dad would have wanted, and guided us to make sure that it was organized.

What I love best about the past few days is knowing that dad is now able to be in multiple places across the world within a matter of moments. There are now no limitations for him, as there were here on earth.

He is now literally traveling at warp speed!

Isn't that how we remember him best?!