As many of you know, our lovely niece Robynn was killed in a horrific car accident on November 3rd. She was only 23 years old, had been married to the love of her life for just 18 months, and left behind her husband and 5 month old son. Her family was devastated, and we were all in shock at this sudden, sad turn of events.
Her brother's wedding - to Phoebe's old roommate Missy - had been planned for November 7th. It was to be a very small affair. With the change in plans, the wedding went ahead as scheduled, but because so much family was in town for the funeral the next day, there were many more guests there than had been planned.
On a side note, Missy's mom was one of my classmates on the BYU Study Abroad Program in Grenoble, France in 1966.
Missy and Rich were married, and though the celebrating was subdued, it was nice to have a positive event to celebrate.
And it was great to see so much family. There are lots of Claytons - and lots of them were there.
This photo shows Ryan, Aaron - Robynn's husband, Robert, and his new wife. Aaron wanted the celebration to continue - he said Robynn would want it that way. But it was bittersweet nonetheless.
Of course the obligatory shot of all of us with Mom was arranged. It was indeed a blessing that we could all be there - we felt the love and strength that comes from a united family - and a united belief that Robynn was only just gone for awhile.
It has been over a week since all of this began, but I still find myself sorting through my thoughts. There have been lots of posts on Facebook, lots of friends and family posting photos, memories, and thoughts. But it is still difficult for me to "wrap my head around" the idea of the fragility of life.
I will do another post with photos from the funeral - lots of family and friends that we don't always see were there - so some aspects seemed almost "family reunionish" but it was hard to get away from the finality of it all.
In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with Aaron, Richard, Julie, and their family for peace and comfort for them.
