Fall Family Night

In an effort to keep watch on the changing leaves, we took off on a Monday Family Night up to the canyon. Who knew it would be such a big adventure?! We started out enjoying the autumn colors as we climbed up the mountain.

About .6 miles after the pavement ended and gravel began, we saw two cars in a bend in the road. One of them, unfortunately, had driven off a little cliff and its nose was stuck in the creek. The other car was stopped to help the lady who was in the driver's seat of the first car, either hallucinating or in shock. She was breathing heavily and was not responding. Since we couldn't really help with first aid, we took off down the mountain to call 911 where there was reception.

We definitely wanted to make sure the lady made it okay, so after we saw the first responders headed up the mountain, we stopped in a little grove of trees to hang out until they came down.

The joys of being a boy.

Practicing spooky faces

After what seemed to be a long time, the ambulance came back down. We still wondered if she was even alive, so we safely followed it to the hospital. It didn't have its lights or sirens on so we figured either it wasn't too bad, or she was already gone!

We parked across the street from the hospital and saw her being brought out on a gurney with an IV, so we figured she must be fairly okay. Phew!

Another normal day for a Rescue Hero and his family!

Cookie Grandma

Sometimes I don't know why I am so blessed. Why I had such an idyllic childhood surrounded by people who loved me and wanted the best for me. People who unselfishly spent time with me and taught me important values and life lessons.

At the top of that list was my Grandma Dorothy. I never doubted her love for me. I always felt not just loved, not just appreciated--but adored! Between the chocolate crinkle cookies she always kept in the freezer, the clothes she sewed for me, and teaching me to sew, our special walks to Armatidge Park to get fall leaves, long camping trips every summer, watching duck games and an occasional Days of Our Lives, and later, trips between Ontario and Eugene, always stopping at the Shoe Tree, I always felt her love for me.

Grammy, as I called her, passed away Thursday evening. She had lost most of her memory by then, living only in the present. Even though towards the end she didn't know my name or my kids' names, we still felt her love.

Love like that is beautiful. It is a gift from God, and it is Eternal. There's not a lot we can take with us from this life to the next. While I hold on to and cherish and now ration the knitted washcloths she expertly made, eventually they will wear out. I'll never again have chocolate crinkles made by her. But her love for me goes on. It's what ties us together in a long line of generations loving and teaching and caring for each other. Love like that is why I look forward to Eternity, and why I don't fear death. Our earthly experience together has ended, but not our love. That is forever.

So I'll miss you, Grammy. But I know I will see you again. And I look forward to the day that we can go on Heavenly walks. Imagine the fall colors in Heaven!