September- Grandma's Funeral

 The sweetest lady ever passed away.

 

We all were able to drive to New York to celebrate her life and cry that she's gone. The first day we got there, we walked around Fairport with mom and dad and the Allen's. It's such a pretty area.

This baby deer! 

My grandmother loved deer. In fact, if you left her house, in any part of the evening she would always say "Watch for deer!" They would also frequent her pond (and eat her hosta) and she loved watching them. We all associate deer with her. 

When mom and Uncle Mike's family moved Grandma out of her home, they went for one last look at her beloved pond. There Donna noticed a brand new baby deer in the hosta. Spots and all. We all knew it was the sign of love and a new beginning. 

So when Amy looked outside our AirBNB, and say this baby deer just sitting in the grass, I knew it was another sign. A sign of a new beginning and a lovely memory. From that moment on, I couldn't stop bawling.

All the Nagel kids at the viewing

We haven't had an original Nagel family photo in decades.

The funeral service was the next day, and it was very nice. Everyone just loved this lady.

In true Hiliger fashion- something funny had to happen. And it did when one of Nicole's twin girls accidentally dropped her baby doll into the grave. How it bypassed the casket was beyond all of us, but we all had a good laugh at it.

The church held a very nice luncheon for us afterwards. And we took as many pictures as we could since we'll likely not be together like this again.

Later that evening we all went to Abbott's. You gotta have Abbott's while in NY!

The next day we had a picnic lunch at a local park so everyone could visit some more. Several people had already left town, but those that stayed had fun.

Grandma loved going out for ice cream, so Donna and Mike hired an ice cream truck for everyone.

Nicole had her baby Carleigh the day of the funeral and therefore couldn't come. But she was able to join us the next day. In this picture she is literally 24 hours old. It was so fun to see them! It was really kind of them to make the sacrifice to come out and join us- a day out of the hospital!

We spent our last evening at Jenny and Steve's house.