Barney Ross Adams

It's taken me a while to write this because I didn't know how to put it to words.  Nate's dad passed away on January 17th.  He was 58 years old.  It was a Thursday and Nate's sister called him right before he was about to go to school and told him the news.  There was a fire in his apartment and he didn't make it out in time.  Nate was so shaken up over it so he went and got a substitute for the next 2 days and we loaded up and went to Show Low.  We weren't very close to him and I only met him about 4 times so I didn't really know how to react, but it hit Nate a lot harder than I expected it to.  We finally got to Show Low and Nate worked with his family to get everything arranged for the funeral.  The arrangements were made for the next Saturday, January 26th. 

We came back the next weekend and had the funeral.  It was a graveside service at the Clay Springs Cemetery.  It was a really rainy day and we were a little afraid of things not working out, but everybody came and the mortuary was amazing through everything.  Barney was retired from the Army, I think, so the first thing was the gun salute and the presentation of the flag.  Since Nate is technically the oldest child, he got the honor of being presented with the flag.  It was a very special moment for him.  We were very grateful for the service men coming and being in the rain and helping us honor him.  Afterwards, Barney's brother Michael gave a life story/shared memories of Barney and I really enjoyed hearing about him growing up a little since I never really got to know him.  He talked about how Barney was a protector and looked after people and took care of them.  He loved being outdoors and going to Nutrioso.  He lived all over the White Mountains and graduated from Snowflake High School.  He was good at working on cars.  After his brother shared his stories, then there was a musical number, Abide with Me, sung by Nate and some of the Perkins family men in Clay Springs.  Since it was so cold and raining we ended there and then while we were at the church for the luncheon we would share some more stories about Barney there.  Before we left though, Nate was in charge of dedicating the grave.  He did an amazing job and I was touched by the love that was there.  The casket was lowered and then we all went back to the church for a luncheon.

The Relief Society was kind enough to provide the luncheon and we all just enjoyed so much being there together and catching up and talking.  It was a hard, but also wonderful day to be with family.  We are sad that he is gone and I feel bad that Barney and our kids never really got to know each other, but I am glad that they have some stuffed animals from him so they can have something to remember him by.