Cousins and More Cousins

At the beginning of the summer, I saw a post on facebook from my cousin Mark. He is my dad's big brother's older son and 2nd child. He posted a request for prayers and good wishes as he was going in for a procedure for his heart and he was feeling pretty nervous about it. I am not in super close contact with this dear cousin, but thanks to social media we have had a lot more contact recently. Also, between the passing of his mom last summer, my dad the winter before that and my mom in 2017, I have had more chances to see him and have some sweet conversations. 

Mark's procedure did not go well, and his body was not able to recover. I guess things just kept going wrong in his recovery, and he never really woke up from his surgery at all. It was so sad to keep getting updates from his siblings and hearing over and over again that more things had gone downhill. I got the call on the evening of June 11th that he had succumbed and passed from this life. It was so sad.

There began to be plans for the Romney side of my family to gather to celebrate Mark. Of course there would be a funeral, but also a celebration of life and a family dinner. Additionally, my dad's two remaining sisters were already planning a trip to Salt Lake a few days after the funeral, and we were already planning a dinner at my house, but with the passing of Mark there would be many more people with us than previously thought. I was excited to see so much of my family.

At the same time, on my mom's side of the family, more events were under way, much happier in nature. My mom's big sister Lynne's granddaughter was getting married and would be having a reception the night before Mark's funeral. Although I don't know this 1st cousin once removed, I knew that many of my dear Morgan cousins would be there and really hoped to see them. I was even more excited that two of my own siblings would be coming to SLC for these events, both happy and sad. 

It was a very busy few days. My Cannon cousin MaryKay put together a lunch with my 90+ year old Aunt Alta, two of her daughters and us on one day, and the next was both a celebration of life for Mark as well as the wedding reception. The next day was Mark's funeral followed by a dinner at my Uncle Mike's house. Then just three days after that was a big party at my house, and it just so happened that that day tied a record for the hottest day ever in SLC at 107 degrees. Not a fabulous day for a party but we had fun anyway. My aunt Rosanne came over and spent the day cooking with me. I wished so much that my siblings could have stayed that long but alas they had to return home by then. 

It was very wild to spend extensive time with family members on both sides of my family within hours of each other, including lots of driving time with two of my siblings. I'm guessing I'm not the only one whose families on each side feel pretty different from each other. Plus the fact that one family was celebrating a marriage and the other family was mourning a loss. It was actually very intense but wonderful too. 

For the moment I only have these two photos but have requested photos from the person who was clicking away, so I'll post more photos soon. In the meantime, here are Margaret and peter and me with our Cannon cousins - Lynne's kids. This was a wonderful evening - we arrived at the reception late since it was our second engagement of the night, but we ended up lingering outside with these dear cousins and talking until we were hoarse. We laughed a lot. 

I will end this post by remembering Mark. Like I said, he was a mountain of a man, with a wicked sense of humor and a lot of bear hugs to give.Mark was born 11 years before me, and absolutely towered over me - he was like 6'6" or something like that. When I was little I remember half adoring him and half being terrified of him, just because he was big and he was a tease. I'll always remember some special conversations we had at the funerals of both my mother and his mother. I always felt like he loved me and that our family was special to his. I'm so sad he left this earth so early, and sad for his wife and children. I love all my cousins and felt so fulfilled by all the time I got to spend with them.

Mark absolutely loved the outdoors

Mark with his dad and brother, Scott