Thread Drift

[indysteel]

Our friend's mother passed this morning. Her suffering is finally over. May she rest in
peace.

[Amira]

I hope your friend (and other family and friends) will find comfort and support as they grieve their loss. Someone told me last year that grief is a process, not an event. That is so true. I hope she leaves a wonderful legacy of love and good stories behind and am glad she is not suffering.

Our friend's mother passed this morning. Her suffering is finally over. May she rest in
peace.

[Amira]

You know, I think I'm going to tell my DH that if he outlives me that I want a portion of my ashes going to anyone who will do something cool with them. I'd love to have a bit of me left in all sorts of places--places I already love and maybe places I've never been, but would have loved.

Personally, I can't imagine doing anything else. Two different big groups of friends got together - and both groups (one in Idaho and one at Northstar at Tahoe) met at the top of the mountain for the last run of the last day of the season, talked about him, scattered his ashes and then all skied/boarded down and went out to toast him and tell stories. It dumped snow on both groups. I think he was definitely there in spirit.

I think I freaked out a poor sales clerk at the container store though. I bought probably 30 or so 4 oz. travel containers, all the same size, to send out the ashes. I guess I bought so many of them she was curious and asked me what I was going to do with them. So, I figured....well, she asked....and I told her. Not the answer she was expecting.

Even some of my friends who didn't even know my brother volunteered to take him places - that's how he got to Mt. Kilimanjaro, which I think he would have totally dug. My friend and his partner took him to the summit and videotaped it and sent it to me. So cool. Then, when they got back to base camp later, they toasted him with beers.

Finding someone I knew that was taking a scout troop to Philmont this summer was totally serendipity, but my brother loved his time at Philmont as a kid and it had a huge influence on him, so that was perfect.

He still needs to go surfing in Hawaii, though. I think I need to be the one to take him there.

Found two pictures - the color one is from Mt. Hood last summer with a bunch of his friends. We were at the top of the terrain park at Mt. Hood Summer Ski Camp. They also renamed the terrain park for him (he designed it and built most of it and was the longtime head snowboard coach there in summer). Coming from Texas, it was so mind-blowingly cool to be skiing in JUNE! The b/w one is from our private family event last July in Vail. This is about 100 yards or so down from the Gondola in an out of bounds (so appropriate for him) area, but one that my then 86-year old dad could get to. I will say the one thing we learned in Vail was be careful which way the wind is blowing when you are releasing ashes. Oops.

[redrhodie]

(((Indy))) I'm sorry for your loss. She sounded like a cool woman.

[OakLeaf]

(((((Indy & friend)))))

Wonderful ideas here for honoring loved ones' legacies.

[zoom-zoom]

So sorry, Indy. The community where I grew up is mourning the loss of a wonderful 13 year old boy who spent the last year fighting a battle with cancer. This mature-beyond-his-years child has taught people in a small community much. The world lost 2 amazing people today.

[Catrin]

((((Indy)))) so sorry for your loss. Sending thoughts and prayers to you and your friends family.

[indysteel]

Thanks, ladies. So sorry about the 13-year old boy in your community, Zoom. That's just much too young.

And, Oak, I totally agree that there are some wonderful suggestions for honoring a loved one's legacy.

[Crankin]

I am sorry, Indy.
Since this is Thread Drift, I am drifting. I have 2 good things to report!
1) I just got an email that my registration is processed and I can call the company that gives the licensing exam for my counseling license. I've been studying since last January, but really intensely since July. I will probably do it during the first 2 weeks in November. Nervous. There's a high failure rate.
2) DS is leaving the Marines... he'll be coming back from Afghanistan in December. He really won't be done until March, but he has so much vacation, he won't be working much, with the transition stuff, etc. He's going to come and visit (he lives in Long Beach) and most importantly, he's going back to school. Will finish out his second year at a community college in the spring and apply to Cal State for next fall. This has been a long road. I accepted the fact he was in the military, but never really that he dropped out of college. He's scarily smart and he is destined for great things. I guess I can thank his wife for putting her foot down and saying she's had enough of being apart!

[indysteel]

Good luck on your exam, Crankin! And I'm so glad your son is coming home. I'm sure you'll be relieved to have him home, safe and sound. Good on him, too, for returning to school. I'm sure he'll have a bright future.

[Amira]

Since this is Thread Drift, I am drifting. I have 2 good things to report!
1) I just got an email that my registration is processed and I can call the company that gives the licensing exam for my counseling license. I've been studying since last January, but really intensely since July. I will probably do it during the first 2 weeks in November. Nervous. There's a high failure rate.
2) DS is leaving the Marines... he'll be coming back from Afghanistan in December. He really won't be done until March, but he has so much vacation, he won't be working much, with the transition stuff, etc. He's going to come and visit (he lives in Long Beach) and most importantly, he's going back to school. Will finish out his second year at a community college in the spring and apply to Cal State for next fall. This has been a long road. I accepted the fact he was in the military, but never really that he dropped out of college. He's scarily smart and he is destined for great things. I guess I can thank his wife for putting her foot down and saying she's had enough of being apart!

Yeah, it's really nice to have great news! Congrats on both.

[Catrin]

Crankin - congratulations on both fronts!

[OakLeaf]

Cool Crankin! Good luck on the exam - and good news about your son.

[Crankin]

OK, I'm taking the exam on November 7th.
I was going to do Oct. 10, but the 9th is my older son's 30th birthday and we are going out that night to celebrate (and my DH is making him wear, at least for a few minutes, the shirt he wore on his 30th birthday, that he has saved for all of these years).

[indysteel]

Anybody else get a spam PM today/last night on sex ed? Weird.