So much sadness

The flowers have been beautiful this year and I always find solace in the outdoors and God’s beautiful creations when I’m feeling sad or down.  It’s been a hard few weeks in many ways.  On May 27th my Aunt Shauna lost her husband Tim. On June 4th my friend Cheri Davenport passed away and on June 11th Shelby’s brother Chase passed away.  So much pain in such a short time. I didn’t know Tim all that well but I know Shauna and feel the great pain and loss she’s feeling. Shauna and I have connected since Mom’s death and it’s been good to get to know her better. She’s close in age to me (between Greg and Brent) so she’s more like a cousin.  She doesn’t have the gospel in her life so to her the end is the end which is very sad.

Cheri was the first person I met when we moved to California. She was my lifeline when I was all alone in a strange place with no friends and often no car since we only had one car when we first moved there. Doug went to work everyday and I was home alone with a 2 year old. She took us under her wing, got Matthew involved in Tot-Lot (a parent cooperative preschool) and we became good friends. We sewed together, shopped together, took the kids places together, went out to eat together, and spent time at each other’s homes. It would have been a much harder transition to my being away from “home” for the first time in my life if it hadn’t been for her. We’ve kept in touch on and off over the years and kept up on each other’s kids and grandkids.  She adored her grandchildren and it’s so sad that she’s gone when they’re still so young.

Shelby’s 34-year-old brother Chase was involved in an awful motorcycle accident on the 7th and was on life support for several days while everyone hoped for a miracle. The miracle was not to be and he passed away on Tuesday the 11th.  He leaves behind a 12-year-old son. Such a hard thing for his family.  We’ve had Zoë a lot this week while Derek and Shelby have been involved with things there. I’m not a “sleep over grandma” but in this emergency she has spent three nights here. She’s just confused and needs to be back in a normal routine but I’m afraid that won’t happen until they get to Rochester and get settled there.