Funeral

 

I know this is morbid, but I had to take a picture of his hands- even the mortuary couldn't get the grease out of his fingernails, and that's such a High trait. Like father, like son.

So, Ben and Camille were to fly out for the funeral. On Friday night, Michelle and I were at the Kallispell airport to pick them up. On the app, we saw them fly around and around and around. But it was too foggy for them to land, so they were rerouted to Billings, 350 miles away. By the time they could get to Ronan, they would completely miss the funeral. They had a terrible night getting stuck in Billings, and then they flew home to Denver in the morning. So, I didn't get my funeral clothes and shoes, so I got to wear tennis shoes to the funeral. Due to Melissa's dropped foot, she can only wear tennis shoes. So we were twins.

The service was lovely. There were only a few of who planned it, it was a very emotional experience as we sat in a circle- my parents, Ilea, Dave and Crystal Shaffer, Ilea's parents, Isaac, on Wednesday and put together the arrangements. A lot of tears were shed. It was really hard. But it all came together beautifully.

Michelle gave a beautiful eulogy.

Melissa played Matt and Ilea's wedding song, "Bless the Broken Road" on the piano.

Stephanie, Crystal Shaffer (his best friend's wife) and I each read a scripture and Crystal read his testimony that he had written for his kids.

Here's what I read:

1 Corinthians 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Mosiah 16:8

But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said:

"Death is not final. Though it seems so when its dark shroud overshadows mortal life, to those who accept Christ and His eternal mission there is light and comfort, there is assurance, there is certainty. Of all the victories in human history, none is so great, none so universal in its effect, none so everlasting in its consequences as the victory of the crucified Lord who came forth in the Resurrection that first Easter morning."

I believe this. Because Christ lives, so does Matt

(***When I say "read" I actually mean "blubbering through." I believe through Christ death is not the end. But that doesn't mean this isn't HARD.)

Almost all of my aunts and uncles came. That meant a ton to all of us.

The RS had a luncheon for 150 people ready to go.

What would we do without RS? We are strangers, but they put that together and it was perfect.

I hate that we had to do this.

Matthew had really high blood pressure. He had an episode in August where he was in the hospital with a BP of 230. He was on meds and he had a BP machine at home to check his BP every day. Apparently two months ago the batteries died and he never replaced them.

He was a macho "nothing bad will ever happen to me" guy. He also worked 10 hours a day and had 2 hours of driving to and from work every day, and when he was home he needed to be "on." He literally never got a break. He was stressed out with his finances.

Ilea heard a "thud" on Tuesday morning, but didn't think anything of it because they have dogs and Matt is a big guy who makes lots of "thuds." She didn't find him until almost an hour after that thud- so in reality, he was long gone by the time the paramedics arrived. It sounds like it was an immediate death, so at least there is that.

It pains me that when he entered Heaven mom and dad weren't there to greet him- and I mean that because he is way too young to have passed, only 43. It isn't right for a child to pass on before his parents.

But I know both sets of grandma and grandpa were there to welcome him. And I know when I pass, he will be right in the front of the line to greet me. And that brings me some comfort.

But all of this just really, really sucks. That's all I can say, and what I keep saying over and over again- "This all just sucks."

There's simply no words. It's unreal. It's a nightmare that we are living. And it really, really, really sucks.

At the hotel as we were getting breakfast the breakfast helper told us she was seeing double and we must be twins- she couldn't believe we weren't identical twins:

Matt's testimony:

Ali,

I have thought many times about how to describe my testimony. Here are a few moments that have added up to how I know God is real and Jesus came here for us.

As a young boy my family would go on road trips to Idaho every year. Most times it was during summer, but this time we were going over the Blue Mountains in Oregon in winter. We would always say a prayer before leaving but somehow this time we had forgotten until we were in the mountains and following a semi truck through a snow storm. We all remembered the prayer at the same time and we decided to pull over right away and pray. When we got done, we pulled back onto the road and at the very next corner we found the truck we had been following jackknifed and blocking almost all of the road. We were able to get by, but it was obvious we would have been involved in a crash if we had kept following the truck.

Several years later, after Isaac was born, was another instance. I had not been going to church much at that point, and I really was not sure of my testimony for a while. Isaac took and a nap and did not seem to wake up in a normal time frame so I decided to go check on him. He was stiff as a board and would not wake up, but he was breathing. My dad and your Uncle Ken wanted to take Isaac to the hospital right away, but for some reason I felt it was not the right thing to do. Finally my dad asked if we should give Isaac a blessing

and that clicked in my head as the needed solution. They gave him a blessing, and his eyes popped open for the first time and his body started to move. Talking to an ambulance medic 12 years later about this incident he asked how many seizures Isaac has a year. When I said none, he did not believe me at first. In his 30 years of being a nurse and an EMT, that was the first case he had ever heard of someone having a major seizure and never having another one.

Ali, though I still think my testimony is not as strong as it should be, I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and sent his son Jesus Christ here to help us make it back to live with them in Heaven. I may not be able to voice my testimony at will very well, but I know these things with all my heart. I have seen too many miraculous things to think that there is no higher power helping us in our lives.

Love,

Dad (Matt High)

To Rebekah

I am not a very religious person, but I do know the truth in the gospel. I know that God does many wonderful things and I have seen his power in my life. I have witnessed God save a young boy from seizures and make them never come back, which was beyond the understanding of some medical professionals. And I have felt God's influence in my own mind and heart as I have looked for the words to say during difficult times. I watched as God controlled the weather and felt his playful side from the weather again as I argued with him. I lost that argument by the way.

But I guess I should say that my greatest testimony of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ is that I have felt the difference between being able to talk to them and feel their presence, versus not being able to communicate with them at all. I know that Jesus came to this planet to save us from our own sins and to allow us to go back home and be with our Heavenly Father. And I know that Heavenly Father created this way for us to return to him if we choose to follow the path. God never said it would be easy, he only said it would be worth it.

-Dad