One Year

One year ago last Saturday marked the passing of my sister Allison. Wow, was that a fast year. So many things can happen in a years time it can be overwhelming. i'm so glad the Lord knows exactly what we can handle and never gives us more than that. So i think like everyone else in my family i was going to stay pretty busy on Saturday, the whole day was planned out. Andy had a men's breakfast and then work at the church so i was on my own for the morning. i made the kids breakfast and took my time getting ready, watching the memorial DVD from last year. Not really a smart thing to do when you're trying to put your make up on but oh well. It really made me miss my brother, i'm so glad he and the family are coming out for Tina's wedding, that will be a great time. Then there's a knock at the door. Oh great, my house is totally trashed and Lori shows up. What a great friend, she had a beautiful bunch of flowers and a card, just what i needed! It was great to see her and just chat for a few moments, it was nice to stop the day. But not for long, off to shots for tots we went, first dropping Ezekiel off at the church with daddy. You'd think it would go a little faster. They really did have a nice organized way of doing things but sitting and waiting for 1 1/2 hours was not what i was planning on. i was going to meet mom as soon as i was done for coffee or whatever. So at 11:30 we finally leave, go to Goodies for doing such a great job waiting and then getting a shot, McDonalds to take the men working something to eat and to church to drop Gabriel off so i could go out with mom. Well by this time i only have 1 hour left before i have to get Gabriel to soccer. So we run over to Jakes for lunch. Well kind of, we shared biscuits and gravy in memory of Allison, that was her favorite thing that she had to have every time she came over. So mom was keeping herself busy with Tina's wedding stuff. She finished all the flowers in one day! Then back to the church to pick up the boys, run home and get soccer stuff (because i forgot to plan ahead and have him bring everything), then off to the soccer field we go, only 5 minutes late whew! Only 6 of the 8 kids show up for their pictures and then we start practice of which Andy and i became the coaches in a round about way. Actually we really enjoy it, kindergarten soccer is the best to coach, it's only 1 day a week for 6 weeks. You practice for 20 minutes then play for 20 minutes with a 5 minute break in there. Okay soccer is done, yeah, oh shoot, we forgot to pack for our quick trip to Eugene. Because we spontaneously had James and Torrey over for dinner Friday night, which was great but left no time to get ready. So home we go and get packed in 20 minutes, wow that was some quick packing. Back in the car and off to Eugene we go. Apparently i wanted to get there quick because i made it in 2 hours 15 minutes! We arrive and Vicki had graciously made dinner for us, Chicken Alfredo, so yummy! We ate then off to the river we go. Rob had kept the wreath from Allison memorial and had planned to set it in the river that night. There were quite a few people there, 6 youth gals, Leo and Gina, Rusty, Tina and Jeremy, Kendal, Christian, Rob, Vicki, and my family. The moms weren't quite able to make it and that was okay. So Rob started by asking if anyone had anything they wanted to share about Allison and quite a few people did. She really lives on today through all of us, you can tell by the way everyone was talking. i of course did my best to hold it together but didn't do a very good job. Then Rob got the wreath which had ribbons on it and had me, Tina, Kendal, Christian, Vicki, Rusty, and Gina all cut one off to keep, that's really where i lost it. Then he walked over to the edge of the bridge and threw it down into the water. We all just stood and watched it until we couldn't see it any longer. It seemed to take a long time but we enjoyed the quiet and peace of just watching it float away. Rusty asked if i had any worship songs i could sing, yeah right like i could sing at that point, i understood but wasn't able to lead out, none of us were. So i think we were all thinking and singing in our heads but no words were coming out. We talked a bit more and then Christian broke down and started crying, that was really hard. i so appreciate his tender heart, both him and Kendal are great kids. Over all i think we were on the bridge for a little over an hour. Then the family went back to the house and looked through all the pictures Rob had found while going through the house. That was fun! Lots and lots of memories. Tina left around 10 to go to work and i stayed up till about 11:30 with the boys. Then we got up, got ready and headed home so we could make it to Ezekiel's football game. Busy, that was how i kept it. Was it right or not i don't know but it worked. i think i would have liked more time by myself to just have some thoughts but i guess i can do that anytime. A year has gone and there is new life happening all around us, God really does give beauty for ashes. Rob and Vicki find out what they are having this week, Tina is starting to realize her life is changing forever very quickly, our daughter is real in our hearts, life is good. Thank you God for good life.