Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Karma Jeppsen Dixon

Grandma Dixon passed away on July 27. She had waited 21 years to be with her 
husband again and was thrilled when the time finally came. 



Scott gave a very nice talk at her funeral. They had a special bond. Here's what he said:

Some of my earliest memories include going to visit my Grandma Dixon. She lived on the 12th floor of a condominium complex in the hills above Salt Lake at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. I loved to visit and see the view of the valley from high up on her balcony. She always had delicious treats and was always very excited to see me.

Everyone in the family especially loved participating in Grandma's Christmas Eve party. All of the cousins would get together on Christmas Eve for dinner and to open our present from Grandma. I always loved having this early gift to open to wet my appetite for Christmas morning. As I grew older, I looked forward to helping to put together my cousin John's toys. It was always a great time to see family that I did not get to see very often.

Every year, Grandma would send me a birthday card with a large check. I was always amazed to get so much cash from my Grandma every year. As I got older and was able to drive, I began to help my Grandma out with her groceries and I would take her to her nail and hairdressing lunch. I enjoyed helping Grandma initially because I really respected my Grandpa that died when I was eight years old and this seemed like a great way to honor his memory. As time passed by, I just enjoyed being with her. Anyone who knows me well knows that foods play a large part in my favorite memories. After the hair appointment, we would always go and get lunch. One time, my car broke down on the drive from the hairdresser to lunch. My mom came to rescue us. Grandma and I were both shocked that my mom was too busy to take us to lunch after picking us up. On my sister Alison's wedding day, all my family was supposed to go help setup for the reception after the wedding at the temple. Grandma convinced Curtis and I that we could still take her out to lunch (again, that didn't take too much convincing for me).  It did take more time than I thought and I wasn't as helpful for setting up as I could have been.

When I left on my mission, Grandma contributed every month, which was greatly appreciated. She was supportive of me during all my endeavors. I could tell her stories about school all day long and she would patiently listen. In my early electrical engineering classes, we measured how the resistance of a temperature dependent resistor changed with temperature. I explained the experiment to Grandma and she was excited and asked if I was going to patent the idea! She always had so much confidence in me and was excited to see me succeed. She was similarly excited when I told her that I was engaged. When Cecilie was pregnant, I called Grandma from San Francisco airport to tell her the news. It was noisy and her hearing was not so great. I told her once and she said, "what?" I told her twice and she still didn't understand. Finally, I was yelling "She is pregnant!!!" loudly into the phone. When she (not to mention the rest of the airport) ultimately got the message, she was so excited. Had she lived a literally another week, she would have met Jackson. I really wished she could have held him once.

Through all my memories of Grandma, she always showed her incredible love for her husband John. She missed him so much. She also had great faith in the resurrection and in eternal families. I doubt I had a conversation with her in the last twenty years where she did not talk about him or her desire to see him again. I wish I could have seen her face when they were reunited. Knowing that they are back together and that I will see them again after this life has brought me much comfort during her passing.


I wanted to be in the room for Scott's talk but Jackson had other plans. When I heard noises down south I ran out to change him so it wouldn't make a mess. Too late!

As soon as we got back in the room he started to spit up. (Look closely and you can see spit up all over the sleeve.) 
Luckily the microphone was able to be heard in the foyer.

We miss you Grandma Dixon but are glad you're happily with Grandpa John.

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