November 17, 2021 I knew that morning that time was short. Eli had things he hadn't finished, so I invited our friend Diamond Jim, who worked at This is the Place, to come over so he could get Eli's leather working projects and finish them. One less task undone--one less thing tying Eli to this …
Tag: strength
It is finished
East facing West facing Well, it's mostly finished. There is more to come.
So what about…?
I know you all are wondering about Eli's headstone. Yes, we ordered it December of 2021, a few weeks after he died. We bought enough plots for Eli, Adam, and me, so we bought a headstone for the three of us to share. The style we chose is less common, so the monument company didn't …
Thanksgiving
I am often puzzled when people express gratitude for something bad that has happened to them or their loved ones. They might say something like, "I learned so much from [insert challenging experience here], and I am grateful it happened because I am a stronger person because of it." Well, I'm not grateful for Eli's …
Miracles, Coincidences, and Other Disasters
Dear Eli, You'll be happy to know the house didn't burn down today. Ella was hanging out in your workshop, which, if you recall, gets its electricity via an outdoor rated extension cord running to an outlet on the outside of the house. She was cold, so she turned on a portable heater. She was …
Continue reading Miracles, Coincidences, and Other Disasters
Deathversary
Dear Eli, I totally don't know what to call it. Death day? Death Anniversary? We were calling it your graduation, since you graduated from this life, but graduation anniversary doesn't seem right, either. So, when it comes up, we just call it the 17th. [One cousin who read this post uses "angelversary", which is a …
Seasons
Grief is a constant companion. It is always there. I can be distracted from it. I can ignore it. I can even hide from it, but I can't get rid of it, nor do I want to. Grief reminds me that my son exists. When Eli's biopsy four years ago today came back positive for …
Past and Present
Dear Eli, We spent the last couple days at the Renaissance Faire. It was bittersweet as I visited the leatherworker who gave you the D&D leather game roll and, later, when I paid my respects to Queen Elizabeth, who had us as special guests at her feast last year. 2021 2022 Every time I saw …
Dragon Hunts
Dear Eli, Ella composed this song for you in February, performed it for your birthday party in May, and performed it again at a camp she and Peter went to at BYU last week. You can't tell from the video, but there were 800 people in the audience. Miss you Eli! https://youtu.be/xZRjFTxlmzc
Bittersweet Easter
As Easter was drawing near this year, I realized that it would be on the 17th of the month, exactly 5 months after Eli departed this world for the next. I was checking my Facebook messages this morning and had the thought that I needed to check the messages that Facebook doesn't notify me of …
Eli The Boss 