Beauty for ashes

Week- March 5-12

 Lucy and I came home from Denver.

Lucy’s team didn’t do as well the second and third days of the tournament but ended with a winning record and good learning experiences to help them improve for future tournaments. 

Lucy and I made our flight home. Good thing it was delayed. Security at Denver airport was a mess with the construction they are doing. 

Glen and the three kids picked us up at the airport. It was good to see them. 

We missed Jason’s viewing Monday night, but made the one before the funeral Tuesday.

Jason’s funeral was beautifully heartbreaking. Jason had planned so much of it. He picked out his casket, his blue suit the flowers, the dresses Emily and Sadie wore and so much more. He wrote a letter that he had a friend read during the funeral. He picked the music and was in all the details just like he was in life. He was a great wood worker and general contractor. He loved a job well done and a fresh coat of paint.

Emily spoke and shared their story and her heartbreak with so much grace and composure.  She is such a strong woman. (Emily is my first cousin. She is the youngest daughter of my mom's oldest sister, Stephaine.)

Hospice provided volunteers to stay with Evelyn so Marian, my mom and I could all attend the funeral and luncheon for Jason. It was such a great gift.

Then life carried on as it does. Bad and good, happy and sad. 

We celebrated Janene's 81st birthday by all of our family meeting Janene, Larry, Janae, Topher and Colton,  at Goodwood for dinner that night. There was a crazy late winter snow storm going on that made traveling to  it memorable.

The next day we celebrated Ruth's 10th birthday!  She gets so excited for her birthday. It's hard to meet her expectations and the hype she builds up around it. I don't think we completely failed. 

She got presents that were surprises and some of the things she wanted. We went to the zoo. She got to go birthday shopping with Grandma Richins. We went out to eat at Iceberg with Grandma and Grandpa Richins. The wait was too long at Red Robbin which was her first choice. 

This is a crocheted or knitted head mount I saw at the fabric store I went to in Denver. 

Glen and the younger kids got to check on Charming for Larry and Janene. Beth embraced that job. 

All these girls played on the same high school team and were at the tournament in Denver. 

On the train headed to the airport to go home.

Jason’s funeral program

When Jason got diagnosed he joked that there was a race to the cemetery between Evelyn, his father-in-law, who hasn’t been in good of health for years and Evelyn.  We all thought it was funny and a good coping mechanism, until he won.  I would have lost money on who would have won that race. My head is struggling to process how Evelyn is still with us while Jason’s journey here is done.  I am happy for him. It was such a hard thing for him to be trapped in his body, unable to use it, having to let and rely on people to help him when he use to be the one always helping. 

I am frustrated that Evelyn has had such a good long life and seemed so close to dying so many times over the last year and a half but is still here keeping us on our toes. I am sure one day I will know why things worked out this way, I just need to be patient. 

I  chaperoned a cousins night at the movies the night of Jason’s funeral. We saw Puss in Boots. I did not have high expectations but was pleasantly surprised by it. Probably the nicest thing about the movie was I didn’t feel like there were hidden agendas or messages obscuring the storytelling. It was wonderfully refreshing. 

Ruth at 10. 

The picture above and below are film pictures from a different time at the zoo. The tiger and the polar bear who swims laps are a couple of our favorite animals to watch. 

Leaving the zoo, after our fun. Logan got to come with us but Lucy was not with us because of work.