Millar Moments: A SAD MONTH WITH THE DEATH OF MY OLDER SISTER, SONNIE

This month on July 15, my sister, Sonnie, passed away. Sonnie had been suffering with alztheimer's disease for a few years. When we visited her last year, we could tell she was not the Sonnie we had always known. Over the year, her condition worsened until she didn't even recognize her own children, Christian and Jeanie. What a sad disease this is. Jeanie called me on the 14th and said the Sonnie's passing would be soon as she was lying in bed and hadn't eaten for a couple of days. (This is exactly the way Paul's brother progressed with alztheimer's.) Sonnie died the next morning. She will be missed but now her mind and body in no longer failing her.

Her funeral was held on Monday, July 27th, in Denver, Colorado. On Sunday, we traveled to Grandby, Colorado and spent the night. Don and Dana joined us there and in the morning, we drove into Denver to attend the funeral. The funeral was held in an Episcopal church. It is the church Sonnie had been attending since she moved to Denver to live with her daughter, Jeanie. It is a denomination that broke off from the Catholic church but still preforms many of the traditional rituals of the Catholic church. Sonnie's funeral was just that - a service of rote prayers and ceremonial recitations and even communion. The only thing that was about Sonnie were the 4 talks by family members and a friend. The first talk was a tribute by her son, Christian. I followed him with a talk about Sonnie growing up in our loving home and some of the things we experience with her throughout her life. I included thoughts from each of our siblings. I was glad I could represent our family and pay tribute to Sonnie in this way. Sonnie's grandson, Andrew, gave a short talk and then a former Montessori friend talked about Sonnie's accomplishments in that field of peace and love education. Sonnie had written 3 books and was instrumental in spreading the Montessori method of teaching children around the world. The funeral was followed by a luncheon in the reception hall of the historic church. We had a chance to visit with Christian and Jeanie before we had to leave. We then drove the 3 hours to Steamboat Springs where we spent the night, along with Don and Dana. We left for home the next morning while Don and Dana stayed another 2 days. They had always wanted to visit Steamboat Springs and this was their opportunity to explore this city.

At the front of the sanctuary with the urn
containing Sonnie's remains

Part of the many displays of Sonnie's life

All of Sonnie's family members present
at her funeral

Christian sitting at our table

Jeanie with her 'Love Light' necklace around her neck.
This is something Sonnie used in her teaching of little
children to help them recognize they were important
and carried with them light and love that
could affect the world.

On a a happier note, we celebrated Avery's baptism at the first of the month. She had turned 8 at the end of April but with the family schedules and vacations, she wasn't baptized until this month. She was beautiful in her white dress and Todd gave her a wonderful blessing when he confirmed her. All of Kailee's family was there as were Jon and MIndi. We all went over to Todd and Kailee's home for a lunch afterwards. We were glad we could be a part of this important occasion for Avery.

Such a beautiful little girl

This month, we celebrated the 4th of July with Ryan's family. They came up from St. George so they could attend the summer pro basketball games held in Salt Lake and the Stadium of Fire at BYU. Ryan had an extra ticket so Paul went with them to the games in the afternoon of the 4th. They then rushed home to drop off Paul and pick me up to go with them to the Stadium of Fire. Brad Pasley, a country singer, was the guest performer. I had never heard of him but Grace was real excited to hear him perform in person. We also enjoyed all the other evening's entertainment before Brad performed. The whole night was fun, especially being with Ryan's family. The fireworks that followed were out of this world. Probably one of the best displays I've ever seen as they combined fireworks with a drone show. The whole evening lasted until close to 11 and then there was the walk to the car and getting out of the parking lot. We didn't get home until almost 1:00 in the morning. Ryan and Katie stayed through the weekend.

Paul at the basketball games

At the stadium

At church together

At the first of the month, we found out from Don and Dana that St. George had peaches. All our peaches here in Northern Utah were hit by a frost so we were told there would be no peaches this season. When we heard there were peaches down south we asked Dana to buy us some. They were in the process of moving into a new home in Spanish Fork so they brought peaches to us. I was so excited that I could have enough peaches to freeze for slush for the coming year.

Two other fun things happened this month - a visit from a special friend and a musical.

I got a call from my friend, Jan Holiday. She said her son was coming into town and wanted to take her up to his cabin in the Park City area. She wanted to get together so we decided to meet for lunch at the Junction in Heber. Her son was bringing her so I brought Paul. It was good to see her again and we all had a nice visit over a tasty lunch.

The musical we attended at the Hale Theater was Harmony. It was the true story about a singing group in the late 1930's. It took place in Germany about the time of the rise of Hitler. Three of the six singers were Jews. It was a great show that portrayed the dangers experienced at that time for anyone who didn't agree with the policies of the Hitler regime. The group was world famous, performing in many countries, including the USA. They decided to return to Germany which led to their eventual downfall when they wouldn't become traveling ambassadors for the German Reich. Three escaped Germany but three were imprisoned then sent to the front lines and killed. The story was told by one of the surviving member - a very effective way to portray this group's rise and fall from fame. It left us with a lot to think about especially with what is happening in the United States right now where the communist/socialist movement is gaining momentum.