Lost Friend and Found Nieces

 

 

It's hard to remember to blog instead of email updates and pictures. I keep thinking I can't do it until Eli get here to remind me about how to upload pictures, but he's here (with Julie) so I'll just have to nab him in a minute to help me. This is such a good way to keep thoughts and pictures together!

Well, my dear friend Marsha (one of our gang memebers) whom I went to visit in Tucson with my friends when she was about to start her 5th round of chemo for ovarian cancer finally succumbed and went to heaven which she was quite sure did not existed. I talked to her last summer when she traveled through Idaho and up to see her family in Idaho Falls when she thought she'd found a miracle drug and was feeling better than she had felt in years, but she suddenly took a turn from the worst and died.

Her family who were not members settled in Montpelier when her dad worked for the railroad so it was fun to see them all together again. When he was three years old, her little brother Bud used to read to us from the cereal boxes at breakfast after a slumber party and delight all of us. He played three lovely pieces on the guitar at her memorial service on Saturday in Idaho Falls. I went with Polly who read something she had written about Marsha's life that was masterful(she had taught school with her and worked as a waitress with her). A woman minister read scriptures and assured them that Marsha still lived and family and friends just stood and said their remembrances of Marsha. She was a remarkable social worker and a great Chritian even though she didn't call herself that! We were so glad that we went! The other gang members all had big family issues and couldn't come. Polly and I had a great time talking and the 7 hours in the car really flew by!

The most exciting part of the journey was finally finding my long lost nieces, Robin and Kristy, who had called last summer and found us! They are Bill's daughters, my dad's son from his first marriage to Grace. Bill was a wonderful, quiet, gentle man who sadly was an alcoholic. He passed away right after my dad did and we totally lost track of them. Robin came to Dad's funeral 28 years ago and Kristy we haven't seen since she was a teenager. They are 49 and 50! One got married and we didn't know her married name and the other has fetal alcohol syndrome because their mother was also an alcoholic. So sad! Anyway, they have both been through horrendous marriages and divorces and are now together again, taking care of each other which is so wonderful. Robin has helped Kristi raise her two children and has supported her emotionally (and maybe a bit financially) while she went through nursing school. She is now so proud to be an LPN (liscensed practical nurse). Kristy's son Jeremiah is living with her at the moment and going through a divorce. He has a two year old. Darn! Anyway, we got totally lost finding them because I guess Map Quest doesn't do trailer parks, but they finally came and got us and we had about an hour together before we had to go to the memorial service. We took family pictures so they could see their grandparents and great grandparents and updated pictures of the Eyres and Carvers. It was so fun to see Robin looking so much like her grandmother Grace, whom she had never seen! It was a good day!