Last week I saw many memorials to the soldiers who died for our freedom. Some were simple, others were extravagant.
I saw coins laid on grave stones to let the family know the grave had been visited. I learned the meaning of the denominations on those coins, see www.ehow.com/facts_5730875_significance-coins–headstones.
I saw huge, expensive monuments…and yet none of them touched me the way this picture did.
Quilts made by Iona Koehler.
On Facebook, my friend wrote…
“At Grandma’s funeral all of us grandkids brought our quilts and baby quilts that she had hand stitched with love for each of us. We laid them on the pews. Miss her so much already!”
Iona died three weeks and one day after her husband Wilbur. This tribute was touched…and felt…by all who attended the funeral.
When my uncle died in a plane crash in 1983, the family purchased a memorial concrete bench and had it placed on the town square. Apparently, many others had the same idea and his bench was moved to storage to make room.
When honoring a loved one, sharing a piece of their heart is more meaningful than spending money on an expensive memorial.
When people came into Iona’s funeral, they did not see her memorial, they saw her love.
The front of the church was covered with Iona’s quilts.
frugalfish.org 