The days are passing in a blur and I can't stay focused for very long. My laundry, however, is done - go figure. God bless my two daughters, who are now bonding in a very loving, yet silly way. Carly is convinced we have ghosts - not Nick, mind you, but others; add her very colorful imagination and flair for drama, she has decided she can't sleep alone and has coerced Kelsey out of a deep sleep to make her come and sleep in Carly's bed for the past week. Kelsey thinks we have ghosts too, she just doesn't mind them. A few days ago the girls came back from the store with a dance video game for the Wii. I laughed myself sick watching them together and darn near peed my pants when Lee and I gave it a try. I thought I was dancing like Michael Jackson, but apparently I am only sufficient at the potty dance. The laughing felt great!
I finally got a WACKY team registered for the upcoming CureSearch walk in Salt Lake City on July 9th. Since we will be donating 50% of all the money WACKY received these past few weeks, in memory of Nick, to CureSearch, this walk is strictly for awareness purposes. The committee that is planning this (which I'm supposed to be part of) has done a marvelous job in making this a really fun event to come and support. I am inviting all of our WACKY Warriors to visit http://tinyurl.com/44x687y and register to be a participant on our team. The cost is only $10. Of course, we are encouraging everyone to dress WACKY; there will be loads of children (many with cancer) and being WACKY will be a great treat. WE WILL FIND A CURE!
On a very sentimental note, Corey Nielsen from First Descents led a small group on a mountain climbing expedition on Mount Hood. He had asked me if he could have Nick's favorite pin - a gold star that he liked to wear with his cowboy gear - it said, "Sheriff Nick". Corey had a plan for it, so I gave it to him after Nick's funeral. On June 9th, I received the following email from Corey:
"Lori,
I just wanted to let you know that we reached the summit of Mt. Hood this morning at 7:20am. We hiked and climbed from midnight to dawn and it was an unbelievably beautiful sunrise as we came up the mountain and on the final pitch for my group, we looked back over our shoulders and saw the shadow of Mt. Hood on the ocean of clouds about four thousand feet below us with a perfect corona of sun around the peak shadow on the clouds. It was extraordinary and I was with a few really amazing campers and that made it so much more profound.
Anyway, because of safety and the nature of the climb we were the first up to the summit and the only campers for a while and so I ducked away for a little bit and looked off the north face of this amazing mountain at dawn and "saw" Nick as I remember him best and I know he was there ABSOLUTELY in spirit and his presence is our lives is so profound that I suspect he will be with all of us in our big moments from now on. I dug a hole in the snow and with some serious frozen tears, I placed his sheriff's pin in and buried it.
I just wanted you to know, that it was a pretty emotional week here and amongst all of our campers that knew Nick and I hope that you and your amazing family are finding some peace in Nick's "ripple effect."
Love and Light,
Corey"
He later sent me a link to view some of the pictures taken on the mountain: http://tinyurl.com/43f8r32
Impressive, touching and memorable. Thank you, Corey.
Today I received a lovely letter from the University of Utah, along with a Certificate of Academic Achievement in honor of Nick. Moments of surprise continue to surround me. Thank you, Nick.
Tears come at random times; I wish I had some sort of a warning system, though. Going in to his room and seeing all the pictures - his goofy smile peering back at me; going grocery shopping and still thinking about what might make him feel better; watching the last game of the hockey playoffs without him; wanting to say, "Hi, Nicholas!" and waiting to hear, "Hi, Mom!" as I walk past his bedroom - I really need him to say, "Hi, Mom" today. He needs to be careful, though - could scare poor Carly to tears. Smiles are random, too....
More WACKY events coming up through the summer. I hope to have Thank You cards mailed out soon. I have completed one. One. Geez. In the meantime, we are back to softball tournaments and Kelsey just celebrated her 15th birthday on the 10th. Yep, that means she got her driver's permit. Consider yourself warned.
With loads of love,
Lori
4 comments:
Lori.. Thinking of you often and saying prayers for you every day. I hope that each day you heal a little bit more. I also hope that you begin to master the WII game. It does have a way of making you feel extremely uncoordinated and goofy.
Love,
Lori
Lori,
I commend you for getting a thank you note written. We're coming up on a year here, and I still have many to write. I hope people understand. So many times when I settle down to write a note, I just sit there. Even though I feel incredibly grateful, I relive the reason the person did the nice thing and am overcome with grief. Maybe getting those notes written will be my project for Year 2.
It sounds like you're doing as well as can be expected. Let your daughters ease you through these early weeks. Gene and I found that Nate and Andrew were our strongest support. Just being with them helped so much.
Thinking of you every day.
Love,
Lori #3
Greetings from El Paso, Tx
Stan and I are at the airport to greet Stuart home from Iraq. I find it interesting the different paths God uses to cause His beloved children to look heavenward. Stuart experienced how blessed he is to have been borned an American. The Ulvins were blessed to have Stuart's phone call from Iraq arrive as we drove from Nick's church service to the cemetery. Stuart even got to talk to Todd and Todd reminded Stuart that we all have a little of Nick in us. Dear Lori and family, may you all be blessed by Nick reminders from each other. Amen.
Love, aunt Chris
I was just reading the new People magazine and there was a small article about people who really enjoy First Descents. Made me think of Nick and your family. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you.
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