Happy Memories

   About half of the Turner clan gathered at the Bakersfield National Cemetery near Tehachapi last Sunday afternoon in honor of our parents, Jim and Maddie Turner. We wanted to take some time out of our busy lives to remember them by going out to the cemetery nestled among the foothills.  

   Mom started making plans when the construction of the new facility was announced a few years after dad had passed away. He served in the Marine Corps as WWII was drawing to a close. She, a new bride, worked hard as a seamstress while he was overseas in Japan. So she believed the veterans’ cemetery would be a good final resting place for them both and went ahead with the arrangements. After her death in 2011, a beautiful military ceremony was held at that site to inter their ashes together.

   At that time, the cemetery hadn’t been opened long and there were only a few hundred markers. Just four years later, however, rows of identical white tombstones stretched out over the  countryside. Each grave was decorated with a wreath of evergreens. We knew the general location of their headstone but had to search for the marker with dad’s name engraved on one side and mom’s on the other.

    “Here it is,” my brother, Jim, called when he found the right one. Sixteen of us encircled the area: Jim & his wife Sheryl; my sister Jan and her husband, Glenn; sister Jill with her two children; niece Hayley, her husband and three little girls; niece Jamey cradling her new baby in her arms; and Al and me. Our other brother, Jack, along with many other family members unfortunately couldn’t make it.

   I shared some memories with the family as we stood quietly together. Dad’s giant stature, his great sense of humor, dedication to teaching and coaching, being a great provider for the family and his unconditional love for mom and each of his five kids were standouts to me, among other special qualities. 

   Some of the things which came to mind about mom were her many talents, sweet nature, being a wonderful homemaker, her love of teaching preschool children, volunteering whenever and wherever  help was needed, honoring dad and her joy in being with the whole family. 

   Together, they were devoted Christians, loving parents and affectionate with each other. They made a great team of two especially in creating many homemade gifts for us. Ours was a happy home abounding in love, smiles and many wonderful times as we were growing up.

   Jim and Maddie were good people, valued in the community and much beloved by their family. They left behind a legacy of faith and love for the Lord, as well as many descendants!

   The stillness of the surrounding area, the vastness of the land and cloud-filled skies above, the hundreds of markers of so many people who served our country in past years, along with the special one that represented our parents, made a deep impression on me.

   After a prayer and a spontaneous time of sharing, we drove in a caravan back to Bakersfield for a dinner of Chinese food at a restaurant whose owner was good friends of the family. It was fun eating there again after so many years and talking with the owner’s son who is still managing the restaurant at the age of 75!

    Remembering…a good thing to do at Christmas. May we take time to remember God’s great love for us in sending His only son to earth so that we might find the way back to Him, and the amazing unconditional love of Jesus who died for the sins of all mankind. Merry Christmas!

   “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Cor. 13: NIV