Her Graveside Service

     Deciding how to best honor our daughter at her graveside service was a challenge I was very motivated to take on. There are few things I will ever have the privilege of planning for Tesslee, but this was one of them, and I wanted it to be beautiful for her.

      I had no idea where to begin! I had never attended an angel baby service before, and not many funerals, either. So I turned to my fellow angel moms to hear their experiences and ended up with some wonderful ways to honor Tesslee. I need to insert that we were burying her cremains, and this was four months after she became an angel. Its hard for me to even imagine planning a service the same week one experiences a loss. Having a few months to collect myself was bittersweet- sweet having a chance to let the dust settle some, but letting time pass without any sense of closure was very difficult. When we made the decision to bury her cremains, we wanted to have her interred around her due date, which would be a much-needed distraction for me. So after much anticipation, this is how we chose to celebrate Tesslee's perfect, little life...

     We have become aware that Tesslee's favorite color is purple. Most of Tesslee's keepsakes are purple- (hospital outfits, bracelets, gifts, etc.) so we invited our family to wear some purple at the cemetery in Tesslee's honor. It was a beautiful sight as a mom to see so many show up wearing purple for my baby girl. I know Tesslee loved it!

We began by singing I Love to See the Temple, and Tesslee's grandma gave the opening prayer. Then, each of our kids took a turn sharing some words, or their feelings for Tesslee. They did such a great job and prepared what they were going to say themselves. It was a tender moment. Mike followed, and I finished up with a letter I wrote to Tesslee telling her all the things I wanted her to know.

We then sealed the vault, and had a balloon release. It was beautiful! I hope its a memory all of the children keep forever. A peaceful spirit settled over us. As we watched the balloons float silently away, there was one balloon that lingered. I like to think it was a sign from Tesslee that she was enjoying this moment with us.

Next, we gave our farewells and placed our roses and boutonnieres on the vault. We held hands in a circle around Tesslee's casket and sang Families Can Be Together Forever. I love this song and could feel an overwhelming spirit of peace and joy as we held our little family tight, knowing that no matter what may come in this life, we are sealed together and, with effort, can be with our sweet Tesslee again.

Mike and the boys lowered her casket into the ground, and Mike dedicated her grave.

We wanted to make sure Tesslee was carefully "tucked in" before we left, so we watched as she was buried, and then placed her flowers over her. 

It was a lovely service. I'm sure Tesslee enjoyed seeing how much we love her on this side! Afterward, we gathered at our home and showed Tesslee's slide show DVD and had a luncheon in her honor...such a beautiful day for our beautiful angel.