Sentimental Sunday The Hero and White Water Rafting

This is a story written by our oldest daughter and myself.   We included her perspective and the Hero's.

Why I have never been white water rafting.

We did not have pictures from the trip.

Note: I'm steering clear of using specific names.

Back when I was around ten yrs. old or so our ward (church congregation) went on a trip to Waco Rock (not a place - just a big rock in the river called that) on the Guadalupe River in Texas. We all camped together and then the next day we were to go down in canoes or rafts down the river. I had never been but was excited - it sounded SO FUN.   My father, ever the cautious one, impressed upon me the importance of doing just as he said, and wearing my life jacket.  "People drown doing this," he said.

For some reason, my mother couldn't go. (I was pregnant with our 4^th child, so I stayed home with the little ones).   Anyway, the point is, it ended up being only Dad and I on the trip, sleeping in our orange Volkswagen Bus that Dad had converted the backseat into a bed.

We got there late, but I still remember having fun. Campfires were going and we were invited to hang out with our neighbors and roast smores. Yum. However, the buzz going around the camp was that there might not be any rafting/canoeing the next day because earlier rains had caused the river to swell. My father made the instant decision - I was not going to go. I was SO disappointed. He made arrangements for me to stay with someone else in case he went - can you believe I don't remember who that was? I have a vague feeling it was Sister "T", but I can't remember for sure.

The next morning a joyful shout flew over the camp - Waco was open for business! My father started to crumble - I really, REALLY wanted to go. His arm went around my shoulders as he started to vacillate - he hated to see me disappointed. I remember a feminine voice of caution telling him he didn't want me on that river. It was too risky the voice said. So he left me behind.
The next few hours were the most terrifying I have ever experienced in my life - literally. Here is why:

About 30 minutes later there was a shout in camp - a canoe with one of our families had been overturned! We sped to a spot on the river and picked up the young girl - she was bruised from the water slamming her over and over against the rocks. She was shaking so bad from cold, shock, and fear. In the car she slumped back exhausted, while they checked her for broken bones.

I watched with growing fear as the women around me took her back to the camp, whispering that no one should have gone. I asked some questions about the teen, and they quickly tried to cover up what they had been saying, but the damage was done. I knew my daddy was in danger.  They tried to get me to play with the other kids, but I vividly remember the lazy dragonflies in the air as I looked across the way at our Volkswagen Bus and wondered how I would get home if my dad died. How would we get his body home? What would my mother do? I didn't want anything to happen like that. I remember crying.
What can I say - my imagination was always too good; twisted.   

 
Through that first part I learned my father & and a huge 6’+ man of about 290 pounds  had teamed up  to canoe. My dad’s partner showed up at camp awhile later, emerging from the trees. He was limping and had a broken nose. With me standing there, he spoke openly about how their canoe had flipped and pinned my dad underneath and knocked him into the rock. He said he'd had enough and decided to walk back to camp, but my dad had joined up with some kid that needed help. The kid's partner had also abandoned him on the river.

Dad was furious with Hugh for the spill they took. Here was his version: Before we started down the river we studied the approaches and decided that we would go down a specific side of the rock.  We gauged our paddling.  "As we started towards the rock, I was yelling at him to paddle to the left so we'd go one way but he kept paddling to the right against me... so we ended up against that damned rock and flipped. And I'm pinned under the canoe with my face smashed on the river bed against it like this (and then he'd do a mime of being pinned down).  My thoughts were I may die here.  And I would have drowned, except a canoe that was traveling just under water flowed over me and broke the suction popping me up off the floor of the river, letting me rise to the top."
 Back to my story:  I must have been beside myself with fear at that point. I vaguely recall someone saying, "take her to the end of the river so she can watch  the Hero." I can still see the rapids flowing over the rocks when we drove down to the ending point, my nose pressed against the glass, searching every raft that swept by. There were rangers of some sort all over the place. People were shaking getting out of their canoes and rafts. Word got around that they had shut the river down - it was a matter of just getting the people OUT now.

Kayaks, canoes and rafts, one after one showed up around the bend, some folks giving the rangers a hard time about having to get out. Then there was the guy who had a broken leg. I began to wonder if my dad had fallen in again - it seemed ages since his partner had shown up at camp. But finally, there he was - with a young man in a canoe. He made it, and gave me a BIG hug when he saw me.
My dad did go off on the park and how dare they allow anyone on a river like that! You had to know my dad. ;) 

But that's why I can't go white water rafting. I still WANT to, and I plan to force myself to overcome someday, but for now I still break out into a cold sweat thinking about it. We went floating down the Brazos at New Braunfels one year with my husband's parents, and although I didn't say it, I was terrified. But I did it - in a raft, not a tube. The saving grace - there's no rapids to deal with there. =)
From the Hummer:  I was just glad I wasn’t there and heard the story from them later.  

Sentimental Sunday A Hero Camping Memory

Memorial Day Camp out with the kids brought on many family memories of previous camp outs. 
It turned off chilly at night and we were laughing none of us had brought blankets for nighttime.  I said, "This reminds me of when I forgot to bring jackets when we camped out it Denver."  'No,' said the daughter, 'I remember that you took them out of the van after Dad had us put them in, saying "We won't need these."  Oh, all right, it was my stupidity that nearly gave us all pneumonia in July and the Hero is still the Hero.  You just can't rewrite history in this family.
Back to the story.  The Hero had planned a great trip for us through Colorado to Utah.  We were going to visit Leadville, because all of the family loved the movie "The Unsinkable Molly Brown".  His first words as we were packing were, "Make sure there are blankets and jackets."  I was rolling my eyes saying, "It is 100 degrees, I really don't think we will need those.  They take up too much room."  The kids dutifully brought down their jackets and stuffed them in the back.  When I was trying to organize the back of the van, they were just too bulky, so... Yep, I removed them quietly and took them back to the closets. 
We arrived in Colorado in the late afternoon somewhere off Hwy 24 at a camping ground. It was beautiful, a stream nearby. I don't remember where exactly just the general location. This looks like the approximate area.

Everyone was busy setting up the tent, and the fire for cooking.  Then the sun started setting, it was getting very cool. Dare I say more that a bit chilly.   Oh yes...  The Hero (this is the man who donned his red parka when the temperature dipped to 70 degrees in Texas) began looking for the jackets.  He searched, called the children to him to inquire if they had brought the jackets as told.  I had a flash back and sheepishly came forward saying.  "I took them out at home for more room."  It was a good thing that the Hero did not have the powers of Zeus, because I probably would have been struck by lightening and they would have warmed their hands over the coals.  Oh my.  He never let me live that one down.  "Don't forget to pack jackets like you did..."

Needless to say we all snuggled and crowded together that evening.  The next day, jackets were purchased.  Good thing he loved me...

The moral of the story is... Listen to someone who knows about the climate you are going to.

Interesting How Time Flies.

I just noticed this morning that I missed my own blogiversary by two days. I was checking my links and there it was, 363 days to blogiversary. I can remember the day my daughter helped me start this blog. I was already doing my personal blog and we decided to start a family history blog.  

I am so glad I began to write the Hero stories, because they would have been lost like his Journal are.  

Now, if I can get back on schedule with my posts.  Holidays and children's demands get in the way of my organizing, but it is more important to build memories!

Love to all who drop by and those that leave comments, thanks for letting me know what you think.  

Life is grand.

Hummer

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Communicated

Now that the Hero has left this life, I find myself struggling to keep in touch with friends and family as he would have wanted me to.  I don't know how he did it.  I look at the list of friends, he would call and think there are not enough hours in the day. He would always know about their challenges, families, and would be offering to help.  He would check on his family (I was an only child or he would have been busy in my family too).  His mother and I were talking about how he would strive to call her several times a week if not daily. Our children have mentioned that they miss him greatly because he would call and check on them. That they missed running challenges and happiness by him.

I miss his calls to check on me during the day.  We were always in communication once cell phones came out, before that it was long distance to his work in Houston.
He kept in touch up until the last 2 days of his life with family and friends checking on them.   This was a blessing because he had been able to talk with our Idaho family and give them love. Because of snow storms, they arrived a day late to see him.  I am glad he liked to communicate.

The Hero used phones to communicate.

Sentimental Sunday; The Hero Respected Mothers

Our first daughter was born just after Mother's Day.  Did that stop the Hero?  No, not at all. He wrote a poem for me and bought me roses.  He was so excited about the birth of our first child.
As you know his birthday was on May 1, on his birthday he would always call his mother and thank her for being born.  We always went down to her house on Mother's Day with the family and to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.
He loved the stories of Mary in the scriptures, and thought of motherhood as a sacred duty.  I can not tell you how many times he would come to the aid of a some lady who had a challenge.  He still believed in Chivalry.
One of tenderest stories is when we had gone to visit my mom just after she had started living in the Assisted Living Home.  She had anxiety that was almost unbearable to be around, as well as depression.  I was terrible and had told her to sit down and be still so we could talk. She had been getting up and down. He looked at me and shook he head 'no', I quieted down.  He then looked at her and said 'Mary, would you like to be held?'  She nodded yes. He opened his arms and she sat down in his lap and he held her like a baby. She quieted down and relaxed so she could talk. When he died, she cried like a baby.  She knew that we had suffered a great loss.

He passed the teachings of treating a woman like a lady and a queen down to his sons, but that is for another story.
I remember his strong arms around me when I was sad or hurting.  His loving words when I needed to be uplifted.  He was everything I hoped for as a husband and father.  He was a white knight in shining armor.

FamilySearch Indexing, Official vs Unofficial

Last Wednesday, I was privileged to be included in a panel discussion on DearMyrtle's Webnair . I was there to represent the Unofficial Share Batch For FamilySearch Indexing on Facebook. April Robertson the founder of the group had a prior commitment and volunteered me.  I understand the webnair will be archived.  It was a wonderful presentation. I had microphone problems and had to stay on mute most of the time, but the exercise gave me a chance to reflect on parts of the process of indexing, especially the 1940 Census Index, because of how fast it was made available for indexing.
My thoughts went to Official information vs Unofficial information... Is there a big difference?
What would be official?  To name a few, Support at FamilySearch is available through the Help area of the indexing page.  The FamilySearch Wiki  is all encompassing. It has an Overview, Project instructions, Project updates, Frequently Asked Questions, and Additional Helps.  I have given the link for the 1940 census but you can search for any project you may be working on.  Don't forget to read the Basic Indexing guidelines and the Field Helps, we tend to overlook the obvious many times.
These help sources are created by Support members who work tirelessly day and night in the background finding answers, creating help documents, and wiki entries.  Theirs is a labor of Love, as it is with the support members who answer phones and chats to answer challenges, or pass on information so challenges can be overcome.  I feel honored to be among their midst.

The Unofficial FamilySearch help groups include Facebook groups.. These could be a Facebook group started by a  Stake Indexing Director, a member of a specific area, or like The Unofficial Share Batch for FamilySearch Indexing  , one that includes people from all over the world.  If you don't like Facebook, they have Skype groups for getting other opinions and sharing batches.  There is also email.  I have a Ward Indexing Director, that emails me almost daily.  The people I see in these groups are the Magic in Indexing. They take of their personal time to give opportunities for others to research their families online at no expense.  What wonderful people, and they take it Very seriously.  They don't want to be wrong.  They ask for another set of eyes to look (Share batches) to make sure they are seeing correctly if the handwriting is difficult to read. They ask for clarification of rules, or if they see a problem not mentioned, they send feedback to FamilySearch Indexing support for them to address.  I am a member of the Unofficial Share Batch group and I have high praise for the positive manner they work together and strive to keep it that way.

It is a wonderful thing to see those that are developing, overseeing, and indexing all work together.  Sometimes the harmony gets off, but they are quick to fix and most of the time it is a beautiful piece of art.

Sentimental Sunday Celebrating the Hero's Birthday!

Last week was the Hero's birthday. He would have been 66 years of age.  It is hard to believe how time keeps moving.

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It was always our joke that he married a child... I was only 16, that is said with a wink.  He inherited a gene that made his hair begin to silver when he was 25.  By the time he was 30 he had heavy silver hair.  When we had our last son in our 40's, people would ask about his grandson.  It was a bane to him.  He was not ready for the early silvering.  I told him I hoped my hair would be as beautiful a silver as his when I began to grey... He would smile at me because he knew what I was trying to do.
Well, I will say it publicly today, Happy Birthday Hero, I know you are smiling and busy where you are now.  Miss you.
To all, hug your sweetie and tell them you love them.
Night.