Yesterday was Sunday, Palm Sunday, the promise of Easter. We went to church as usual and then to dinner in a pancake restaurant with my brother and his family and my dad. It was the first warm day we have had in months--we have seen the sun occasionally, but it always comes swirling in with cold winds. Saturday was sunny but required a sweatshirt; Sunday was just lovely. It got to 72 degrees I believe, and the contrast to the months of gray skies has people exuberant outdoors.
So Ron and I wandered around the yard a bit before even going into the house from dinner. We decided where to plant our 3 new trees. I took pictures of the blossoms which have just suddenly popped out. We decided that nothing on our to do list was as urgent as luxuriating in the sunshine with the lawnmower =). We came in and got our gardening clothes on.
The phone rang: 3 of our young friends, a married couple in their 20's and his brother, had been injured in a rock-climbing accident in the Columbia River Gorge. One of the brothers had already been been pronounced dead, and the girl, Laura, had been life-flighted to the nearest hospital. Pray!! was the urgent request. So we prayed and called all our children who have worked for many summers at Eagle Fern Camp with Bobby and Laura. The anguished phone calls circulated and then came the stupefying news that Laura had died, too. By now we knew that it was Tony, Bobby's brother, who was gone. He leaves a wife and 2 children, parents, and a community of fellow police officers.
Laura! I just kept thinking of the pictures I have of her at camp, wrestling with our Emily in a kiddie pool filled with Jello. Their laughing. Joy.
Bobby --losing his wife of just a few years and his brother as they were out enjoying a day in the sun. Just the day before, Laura had told a friend at a wedding shower how excited she was with their life and ministry, with the plans they had, with their future goals. My friend at the shower said Laura was just "lit up".
We are all reeling. There is no one to blame, no explanation, no way to make sense of it. We know that Tony and Laura are secure with their Heavenly Father and we do not grieve as those who have no hope, but we do grieve, especially for Bobby and Tony's wife and kids and the parents on all sides. The two families went to the same church, too, so it has been very hard hit.
As I sat looking outside the window with the phone in my hand I saw the bright scene splintered with shards of black. I told my husband my brain couldn't handle the beauties of the day and the darkness of death.
I am not going to philosophize or make any lightweight platitudes. All I know is, I know the One whom I trust and I have to trust Him for Laura and Tony and Bobby, too.
Asian pear
the promise of lilacs
what those weird kernels of Witch Hazel turned into :
Acer Palmatum something from Korea
from last year's sale
from last year's camp sale
new Viburnum from this year's camp garage sale
(Carlesii Compactum V.)
(we also came home with a pink dogwood and a Burning Bush shrub)
4 comments:
What a terrible thing to have happened! My thoughts and prayers are with the partners, chidren and family members left to grieve. They will never forget, but they may be able to cope with the pain. My own family grieves in a similar way at present. There is nothing that can be said, and nothing to be done except cling to God. And have hope and faith.
those photos are a real symbol of hope and better thingss to come.
How very sad - it is always tragic when young lives are snuffed out.
I am so very sorry to hear about your loss. This is so very tragic. My thoughts are with family and friends !!
I just popped by to thank you for your visit...and was so saddened by your post. My thoughts and prayers will be with all those whose lives have been touched by this tragedy. May God be their source of comfort and strength...and hope for the future.
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