I sadly had to take trip to DesMoines for Judy Kaufman’s funeral. I brought along my camera to document my trip. When I got there Saturday May 14th I saw Elle my granddaughter reading one of Dan Brown’s books the Da Vinci Code.
That evening my daughter Kristen took me out for dinner and a movie. After that long 5 hour drive from Chicago to Des Moines I was exhausted. I usually don’t go to bed early but this time I didn’t have a problem with it.
We all went to church Sunday morning and went out for breakfast afterwards. That evening we were supposed to have an eclipse of the moon so I got out my camera and took some photos. When it was fully eclipsed it turns red. They call it the blood moon.
The next day was the funeral at 6pm. One of Kristen’s best friends, Kelly,
came to town to stay with us for the funeral. I had made a video with all of the
pictures I had of Judy. I had done an intro and put music to it. we all sat down and watched it
before we went to the funeral home. I can't show you the whole video because the file is to big but I can show you the intro I did before the pictures of Judy started.
Before we left we all took pictures of one another.
Kristen and Charles Brownell
Kris and her Dad Bill Kaufman
Kris and Kelly, Best Friends
Charles, Kris and Kelly
Kelly and her son Zaxton (Great People)
When we all got to the funeral home Charles stopped off at his father’s Grave.
Charles and my daughter Kristen have their plots right next to Charles father’s plot.
The next stop was the funeral home. I had my camera with me so I went into the parlor where Judy was laid out and took some pictures so those of you who couldn’t be there with us would know how she looked.
They did a good job of covering the black and blue marks where Judy fell and hit her head.
It was a weird feeling when I touched Judy’s face. Her skin was hard and felt like plaster. Of course I broke down and cried. Shawn was there and we both hugged and held onto one another for a while. All the great memories Judy and I had came flooding back into my head. It was hard. I am just glad I was able to be there with my son and daughter.
Soon everybody that was invited was there and the pastor gave a prayer service and talked for a while. Then he asked if anyone would like to come up and say a few words about Judy. Shawn was the first to start off and did a great job. He looked so handsome in his suit and tie. I told him, “You did a great job. You should be an executive.” Kristen didn’t want to say anything and I could see that nobody else was going to volunteer. I wasn’t going to go up there in front of a crowd and speak either but I knew I had to. I started out talking about “How Did We Meet.” Which I did on the intro of the video I did.
When Planning the Funeral Kristen kept it down to the very close friends around 50 people. That gave her the option of having a dinner afterwards. This was the first time I ever had dinner in a funeral home. It turned out great.
The Brownell Family
Elle and her boyfriend. Elle is 21 now so will they tie the knot? We will have to wait and see.
After everything was over, we went back home. Kristen and Kelly made a couple of drinks and I joined them with my glass of water out on Kristen back porch. We had a wonderful time talking all night long. I looked at my watch and I couldn’t believe it was 2:00am in the morning.
Kristen had planned on being at the cemetery at 10am the next day on Monday to bury her Mom so I went along with her. It was just the two of us. That’s the way Kristen wanted it. Shawn called up sick with a fever so he couldn’t make it.
Kristen was lucky enough to find a plot right next to Judy’s parents at Chapel Hill Gardens, Des Moines, Iowa; Masonic Garden; Section: A, Lot: 293, Grave: 1.
Kris and I along with three other people from the funeral home lifted Judy out of the Hurst and carried it over to the grave. On the way I told Judy with a chuckle, “Judy you don’t weigh this much.” The Funeral home director said, “It’s the casket.”
Kris didn’t plan on sticking around when they lowered the casket into the ground and I had to get going back to Chicago. I had a 5 hour trip ahead of me. I was so tired from everything that I couldn’t wait until I got back to my apartment. I thought a lot about Judy and I and all the good memories we had together. Tears welled up in my eyes quite a few times along the way but I made it back to my apartment.
