Another Season Ends

I think Thursday was the last glorious day of Autumn as the wind and rain have pretty much devastated all the color in the trees around our house.  Lucky for me, I spent that gorgeous sunny day down in Seattle with one of my most favorite people on the planet – Janet Johnson.

It was a bittersweet day, since it was the first anniversary of the death of her only child, JaRon.  We visited the hospice center in Kirkland where she spent her last days.  Ironically, a good friend of ours was the architect twenty years ago that designed that building, and Kory was on the crew that built it.  It’s a beautiful place and I was glad to be with Janet as she relived the memories and fought back the tears.

On our way over to the columbarium in Seattle where JaRon’s ashes are kept, we took a spontaneous drive through the Arboretum and then stopped at the Japanese Garden – a place neither of us had ever been to.   We were treated to nothing but eye candy while we were there – with blue sky and fall colors filling our peripheral vision from every angle.  It was breathtaking and it helped soothe our soul from the sadness of the day.  We could have lingered for hours but Janet wanted me to see where JaRon’s remains are at because she also wanted to show me where she will be when her day comes, since they are in the same place.

It’s strange, planning for death, but also comforting, too.  We are all going to die someday and I certainly don’t want my last few thoughts to be “I should have…”, so I’ve gotten everything planned out myself, right down to writing my own obit and designing my headstone.  I guess you could say I’ll be controlling people from the grave, but it sure takes a lot of guesswork out of things for those that are left behind to wonder what in the world I would have liked.  It’s the same for Janet.  I sure hope she’s not leaving anytime soon, however, as she’s my spiritual rock and the best prayer warrior I know.

This has been a delightfully normal week in regards to other aspects of our lives.  Kaleb is giving us “the business” from time to time and had to have a few consequences for his defiance, but I guess that will become the “new normal” as the teenage years are soon upon us.

I got an e-mail about a week ago from a guy I didn’t know in California.  He asked to hire me to do some genealogy research for him on his Norwegian grandfather.  I recognized his last name and as it turns out, he is a first cousin to the husband of my mom’s first cousin in North Dakota.  They don’t even know each other.  Small world.  So the work I did for him, helped an extended family member as well, which was kind of funny.  I couldn’t believe how quickly I was able to track down nearly all branches of his family back to the early 1700s.  It was nice to feel productive.  Turns out, someone else I’d done family research work for knew him and recommended me.  I really should charge money for this, but as it is, it feeds my addiction and gives me a reason to stay up late and hunt for the dead.  It’s a cheap thrill and I’m getting good at it.  It’s nice to know I’m good at something.