Chris part 2

I said that I would write a little bit more about Chris and his funeral, but I have been putting this off because I don't quite know what to say. I want to adequately describe how wonderful Chris was and how touching his funeral was, but I know that I won't be able to do it as well as I want to. However, I am going to try.

I think it was Chris' sister Stephanie that said during his funeral that there were no parts of his life that they had to "skip over" when talking about him because there was nothing that he would have been ashamed of. He was that good of a person. I was honored to be able to be by my sister's side for a week after she lost her husband and I learned alot about not only Chris, but Jennifer, as well as their marriage as everyone prepared their talks about Chris and as we talked about memories of him. I think it is appropriate that we laughed at least as often as we cried. I think Chris would be pleased to know that. One thing that I thought was funny is that as his sisters were reading through his journals to prepare for the life sketch, one of them came across a passage and said "Oh my gosh! I think this is the meanest thing I have ever heard Chris say!" What was it? He had written that he "disliked" someone. I think that is very telling of Chris and his character.


Chris was so amazing that he was honored on this big sign in town. There was a middle screen too that flashed his picture, but we were unable to get a good picture of it.
There were so many people who came and offered support and help. My cousin Cortney did all the display tables for the viewings and my cousin Che'Lyn made an awesome video of Chris' life. The video was particularly touching because Becky, Chris' sister, had tapes that they had sent back and forth to each other when they were on their missions at the same time, so Che' was able to use voice clips during parts of the video. As you remember, Chris had been unable to speak fully for quite some time, so being able to hear his voice and especially hearing him bear his testimony was amazing.

Sadie is Chris' pride and joy. He wanted nothing more in life than to be a father and he loved this little girl so much. I am sure that he will be looking out for her and helping her throughout her life from the other side. She is definitely Chris' child! She looks just like her daddy.

Sadie doesn't know quite what to think of her cousin Hallie yet. So far she is pretty calm compared to Halls, but you never know if she will get some of her dad's "wild" personality. No, Chris was actually very calm in demeanor as well as an adult, but apparently he was kind of a funny little boy. My favorite story of his childhood is that once he was so mad at his two older sisters, that he went and got the biggest rock he could find, determined to throw it at them. It was so big he could barely pick it up, yet he managed and then chucked it as hard as he could. Well, it came landing straight back down onto his own head! I am sure he was just that much more upset after that. Poor kid.

The actual funeral service was one of the sweetest that I have ever been to. The message that was shared was not only of Chris' life and the courage and strength that he had, but his testimony. It was powerful. His journals were key in helping construct such wonderful thoughts about him. His testimony was shared in his own words and his dad spoke of the Plan of Salvation and how we have hope because we know that we will see and be with Chris again. I love this. I can't imagine believing otherwise. I can see a difference in the way that we handle death as people who understand this plan and others who believe that that death is the permanent separation of loved ones. That is devestation right there. I was so proud of my sister and the way she has handled everything, because despite the difficulty of the situation, she has at peace and has handled everything so well because she has the reassurance that since she was sealed to Chris in the temple, that she will be with him for eternity. There is no greater assurance than that and I am so happy that we have that comforting knowledge.

I don't worry about Chris. I know he is happy, healthy, and doing a great work on the other side. We joked that he was probably talking a mile a minute now that he is free from the restraints of his mortal body that wouldn't do quite what he wanted it to. Now we just have to worry about the rest of us and hope that we can be the type of people that Chris was so that we too, can partake in the blessings of salvation and exaltation.

We are going to do a Relay for Life race this July in Chris' memory. We are going to start collecting donations to raise money for cancer research. I will post more information later, but please start thinking about what you might be able to donate as we want to raise as much as we can in Chris' name and in his memory.