Glenda the Good

My mom has always loved The Wizard of Oz.  Since her name is Glenda (like Glinda, the Good Witch of the North), whenever we watched the movie she would say, "I'm a good witch" - hence, the nickname, "Glenda the Good."

As soon as we returned from Hawaii with our grandkids back in January, we came straight to Bakersfield for my mom's funeral.  My niece, Kristi, coordinated the services with the rest of the Harwell cousins...they did a beautiful job celebrating their grandmother!

They took this photo of my mom from my niece Amber's wedding, used it for her obituary & made it into a portrait to put on display at the services...

Kristi is a minister & conducted the services.  She shared her own memories & made arrangements for her friend, Cassie Dunlap, to sing Mom's favorite songs, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" & "The Old Rugged Cross."  It was beautiful!

Ty gave the eulogy & shared some personal thoughts about how "he was the favorite." Cindi & Jill also shared some thoughts, so did my niece, Carrie. Many long time family friends & out of town relatives traveled to celebrate with us. (I'm bummed that I didn't take many pictures.)

Afterwards, we all met at Pioneer Village for a luncheon reception & visited.  Cindi had a "selfie-stick" with her & that silly thing had us all laughing as they played with it & took silly pictures...I'm sure my mom enjoyed watching from heaven as her family laughed & spent time together - it was her favorite thing to do. 

Here are some of my favorite images of the day...

My brothers are pretty awesome! Dennis, Terry, & me...

Here are her sons Terry & Dennis, 2 oldest grandsons Sam & Ben, & brothers Roger & Al...

Dennis' grandchildren, Sam's kids Leia & Logan...

Terry & his girls, Carrie, Kristi, Amber, & Michele...

Me & my family; Ty, Ben, Gina, Leah, Paul & I, Nicole, Cindi, Terri, Rochelle, Jill, & Kyle...

Like I said, we had fun with this silly selfie-stick!

The next day I invited anyone who wanted to come by G'ma's apartment to help pack things up & choose something they wanted that reminded them of her. It was such a sweet afternoon as these girls went through pictures & letters - they shared their favorite stories & tried on her nightgowns...they laughed & cried as they remembered how much they love her & each other...I'm sure this made mom the happiest as she watched from heaven...

These crazy girls took the selfie stick for a ride on G'ma's scooter!

While we were in town, we had to visit our favorite places - Hodel's, Dewar's, Smith's, Chateau Basque, to name a few...

Long time family friends, the Yorks, met us for dinner...

I took the flowers  back up to the cemetery before I left...she is buried right next to my brother, Dickie...

Mom's worship group held a little memorial service for her at Pinewood Glen - they even brought Miss Opal! This group was very important to my mom.  They came every Wednesday for a Bible study message & stayed for Sit n Stretch & some even came back for Bingo in the afternoon! She loved them all so much & their friendship & tender loving care brought her great comfort!  

Kristi sent me this photo of her marker when they had it in place...it makes me smile.

It is difficult to say goodbye to someone you love, even when you know the separation is only temporary.


I have collected thoughts & memories from many family members & added them to Mom's personal history.  It has brought me great comfort to read each one as they came in & it has helped me remember her as I have felt her absence so deeply.  Even though she made those final details relatively easy for me (with all of her things in order, pre-paid funeral arrangements, etc), I was not prepared for how much I miss her!  These past few months have been extremely emotional & difficult for me. She taught me what it means to be a family. She gave me a wonderful family that I love dearly & that is a cherished legacy! Families truly are forever...  

I found this poem in her things - I imagine it expresses how she must have felt...

To Those I Love…

If I should ever leave you, whom I love, to go along the silent way, grieve not.

Nor speak of me with tears, but laugh & talk of me as if I were there.

(I’d come, I’d come, could I but find a way! But would not tears and grief be barriers?) And when you hear a song, or see a bird I loved, please do not let the things of me be sad.  For I am loving you just as I always have. You were so good to me!

There were so many things I wanted still to do - so many things to say to you. Remember that I did not fear.  It was just leaving you that was so hard to bare. 

We cannot see beyond, but this I know, I loved you so.

It was Heaven here with you…