“The Romance is not in present-day Oregon for me; it is right here in Colorado now, because this is where God and I live together.”
~John Eldredge, from his blog post Recovering the Romance~

My sister and aunt are in New York burying my grandparents. They purchased a shared cemetery plot decades ago. My grandpa was cremated in Florida and his remains stayed with my other aunt until she died. My grandma was cremated in New York and somehow the two ended up back together. So to honor their wishes and make use of that plot, they had a small service in Martindale to place their remains in the ground.

“I wouldn’t mind being cremated”, I said to my husband the other day. Every so often it just comes out, some comment about death and our corresponding thoughts and plans. When I heard that this was happening I didn’t have that “have to be there” feeling. I felt instead like I needed to stay here this time. They’ve been keeping us updated in the family group chat with pictures of their sightseeing and travels.

They had a small graveside service attended by a few of their relatives as well as several long time friends. When Grandpa and Grandma bought this burial plot, I’m assuming they thought they would die of old age and be buried in caskets. I don’t remember them saying. I surely can’t imagine it mattering much to them now. I think they’d still be happy though to know they made it back there.