Esther Belle would have been gratified ...

About the only thing my cousin Esther Belle wouldn't have liked about Saturday's memorial events in Chariton was the fact she couldn't be there in person. Well, maybe the rain --- although as a decorate-every-grave veteran of countless treks through countless cemeteries in all kinds of weather, she'd have adapted.

Anyhow, about 40 of us gathered under umbrellas at Calvary Cemetery at noon for the interment, then were joined by others to pack the parish hall at St. Andrew's Church for lunch after. Her memorial Mass had been held on Friday morning at St. Ludmila's Church in Cedar Rapids and that was well-attended, too.

The passing years tend to diminish the number of mourners for some, but Esther Belle was a memorable soul --- and many did remember: Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and old friends. 

The lunch was catered by Hy-Vee and that's worth mentioning, too, because Esther Belle was a Hy-Vee loyalist. During her Memorial Day visits to Chariton she liked to gather the family about her for lunch at Hy-Vee and precede the meal with a brief homily, noting how good that company had been to her family --- both Larry and Esther Belle were Hy-Vee careerists. So she would have approved of that, too.

The vintage photo here, taken on Aug. 22, 1924, shows the entire Miller clan at that time --- my great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Clair) Miller, surrounded by her children and their spouses and 36 or her 40 grandchildren. Esther Belle, Juanita Brenaman and Warren and Elizabeth Miller hadn't arrived yet; they would be born during the next six years. The photo was taken on Great-grandmother's birthday on the family farm just west of Williamson Pond in English Township.

Now, after Esther Belle's passing, only Elizabeth remains.