A Dose of Dawson: Grandma Betty's Memorial

Here is a wonderful memorial video my mother in law Trudy put together for Grandma.

On July 10, Grandma Betty was interned at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma in San Diego. Her urn was laid to rest with her husbands urn, whom is Kyle's Grandfather, Herbert Harding Outcalt. Herb was in the Army and him and Betty chose to both be interned at Fort Rosecrans. Rosecrans cemetery is VERY beautiful. It is on the peninsula, Point Loma. The cemetery is surrounded by beautiful views of the harbor and San Diego and the other side is just ocean. It was very humbling to be at an Armed Forces cemetery. It also brought a lot of peace and closure knowing Betty's body has a place to rest and her grave was dedicated to that purpose. We also feel she is in a good place and know her spirit still lives on. We know she knows we miss her and we know she misses us too.

Sisters (Trudy's dad, Herb, married Wendy's mom, Betty)

Betty's great grand kids

Grandparents and grand kids

Kyle's family and our niece and nephews

Betty's daughter, Wendy, (Kyle's Aunt) and her long term boyfriend, Tony.

Everyone

Once you put the urn in the wall you cannot take it out.

Hugs all around

You can see the city behind the wall

After the cemetery we went to lunch at In-N-Out in remembrance of Betty. We then got ready for the memorial. Something for her family, close friends and neighbors to come to celebrate her life. Everyone in the family spoke. I want to post Kyle and I's tributes because I think they are special and really show how we each knew her individually. The common theme among everyone's tribute was that she loved without fail and she was always happy and enjoyed the little things. She always used to say, "Fun, Fun, Fun!" and "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!" On her and Grandpa Herbert's plaque at the cemetery, we all decided it will read, "Love Never Fails."

Grandma

Not long after Kyle and I were married, Kyle and I took Grandma home after an outing together. After departing with Grandma for the day, on our way home, Kyle said to me, “You know, my Grandma told me she hopes you will consider her as your Grandma.” I quickly responded, “I do.” However, Kyle continued and said, “Yeah, but that means she also wants you to call her Grandma, if you want to.” Ever since that day, I worked hard to be able to call Betty, “Grandma.” It was not necessarily easy for me to do, as I had never thought about it before. However, the more time Kyle and I spent with Grandma the more I realized she meant it. She showed her love by giving us her time. When we visited from Utah she spent her valuable time with us by going to lunch and the Safari Park or coming over for Sunday dinners. Even before Kyle and I were married, I noticed she had special relationships with her grand children. Before she knew I would join the family she went with Kyle to collect pressed pennies for me from the Zoo and Safari Park. Those pressed pennies not only remind me of Kyle, but of Grandma, too. Kyle spoke frequently of how his visits back to San Diego were spent with his Grandma. I have my own special relationship with my maternal grandmother, but I was wishing I could have a Grandma like Betty one day. Little did I know, my wish came true. I believe I felt her spirit soon after she passed. I felt peaceful, even though I did not want to believe it, yet. I feel that was her way of showing her love for me. There is no perfect way to measure the love people have for one another. Even though mortality is temporary, love is eternal. There are many traits and characteristics that we will remember Betty by. However, in my time with Grandma, to me her legacy is one of love. (Brianna)

Posters we made for her when she was in the hospital

She loved desserts

Grandma

I shared a special moment with my grandma while she and my grandpa lived with us. Every evening I would practice my Baritone and play a song that I didn’t think was that great but she loved. The song was called Evening Prayer. I feel this song brought us together because she wouldn’t talk about religion or faith with others for being scared that it would start an argument or disagreement. She held her beliefs and faith so close to her heart that she didn’t want any negative feelings to be associated with it. I felt that when I played that song for her we would connect on a deeper spiritual level where we both knew that the other had a strong and deep abiding faith in God and Jesus Christ. Over this past month since her passing I have had to lean on that faith and knowledge that she continues to live on. On the few occasion that I was able to have some religious conversations with my grandma I remember talking to her about the afterlife and how wonderful and glorious it would be to be in a place that learning and growing would not stop and our loved ones would be near to us again. As I ponder on how wonderful that is, I am grateful that I have a knowledge that we came from God’s presence before this mortal life and that would be able to once again re-enter his embrace once more. In this past month when I have had times of sadness I think about how Grandma has been able to reconnect with her loved ones and enter their embrace. I have been remembering many time in my childhood when I was with her and what sticks out to me the most is how much she wanted to take care of me. She knew how to take care of me and that was through my stomach. When we were young and would visit her in Michigan we would spend much of our time at their cottage on the lake. When we would get there she would always have cookies made for us, but she knew that either I didn’t like having nuts in my cookies or wasn’t sure if I was allergic to them but she would make me my own batch and would have a special cookie jar just for me. It made me feel so special and loved by her that she would make something just for me. She would always go the extra mile to make sure that those around her were watched out for. I know that she is being cared for and taken care of now by her loved ones that have passed on before her. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of her life and was able to feel of her love. I am grateful that she is continuing her journey of knowledge and growth and will soon be in the embrace of her God.

Thank you. (Kyle)

The memorial only consisted of desserts and sweets because it was Betty's favorite. Her talented neighbor/friend is a professional pastry chef and made these awesome desserts for her memorial! Trudy said she can imagine Betty saying, "What kind of desserts will be there?!"