Amtrak Trip

These pictures are from our recent Amtrak trip over the mountains from Chemult, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon. This trip was a gift to my younger daughter Emily from my parents. My two daughters,Jessie and Emily, my parents and I rode the train. My husband Matt and my son David chased the train back over the mountains. Odell Lake, featured in one of the pictures, is a favorite fishing and camping destination for us. We often hear the trains that travel the tracks bordering the lake so we decided this would be a fun trip to take. Emily, David and Matt all love to watch trains. This is the reason for the trip being a gift to Emily. It was a beautiful day and it was an adventure.

My family went and spent the night at my parents' house as it is about 2 hours closer to the taking off point than our home. We arose at 6 am so we could leave at 7 am to make it to Chemult by 9:30 am. The train was due to arrive in Chemult at 9:40 am. We arrived at our destination on time, though mom was convinced we were going to be late. Then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally at 10 am when the train was officially 20 minutes late, we called the information line for Amtrak. We discovered that the train was running 3 HOURS behind schedule. Now, Chemult is a blink and you will miss it map dot in the middle of Central Oregon. There is just not much there. However, one thing it DOES have is a pretty good restaurant so we headed over there for a late breakfast/snack while we waited. We waited there as long as we could be eventually the kids started getting to restless so we headed back over to the empty parking lot that represented the "station" to wait some more. Finally, at about 12:30 the train arrived and we were able to board. We chose to sit in the lounge car where we had a beautiful view from the nice big windows. The trip was amazing. We were lucky enough to be sitting across the aisle from a gentleman who is an engineer for the freight line. He had deadheaded to Klamath Falls and was riding the Amtrak back to Eugene. He gave us landmarks and told us interesting things throughout the trip. We saw deer and a couple of elk. We also saw some beautiful country that you can't easily see any other way. Poor Emily fell asleep for part of the trip but enjoyed the parts she remembers. LOL. There were certainly so fun memories created as well.

Last Call

Today was Sabrina's final goodbye. I appreciate all the warm thoughts and prayers that all of my friends have showered on her family and mine.

The service today was lovely. Many family members spoke. Her mother told us about the short time they had with their sweet little girl. Cousins, aunts and uncles and even her grandmother told of memories of Sabrina, fun times and painful. My friend Kristi put together a lovely slide show that documented the years the family had together. Sabrina was put in their care at age 3 in 2001 and her adoption was final in January 2003. The photos showed a mischievious, warm hearted personality that loved flowers, animals, family and friends. The final series of pictures of her final months were painful to view but heartwarming nonetheless. She looked like a completely different child due to the water retention from the medications and cancer. One of the local rural fire departments made her a member of their department. As near as I could tell the entire department was there for her final goodbye. Absolutely the most tearjerking moment of the entire service was when Salem Fire dispatch made Sabrina's final call. They called her name three times over the radio and then told her it was time to go home. Dispatch then signed out. Most of the assembled friends and family did pretty well until that point. Of course there were tears but that last call was more than many of us were prepared for.

My DD Emily went with me to the service. Sabrina was her classmate. Em counts Sabrina among her closest friends. Emily did very well through the service though it was a little long for her 7yo patience . Last call got to her as well. Many of the school kids and their families were there and tomorrow is going to be a hard day at school.

I am feeling a bit lost. There are so many feelings flowing through me. Worry that something like this could possibly happen to my children. Fear that I would not handle it with the grace Sabrina's parents have shown. Thankfulness that it was NOT one of my kids and guilt for the thankfulness. My eyes and nose hurt from crying and my head hurts from all these thoughts and feelings rolling around in it. Sabrina will always occupy a small corner of our hearts and sunflowers will always conjour memories of her. She was a delightful, funny, energetic, loving, personable child who had lessons to teach us. She accomplished her goal as she taught us all about love and compassion.

We will miss until we see you again Sabrina. With all our love, goodbye.

We will miss you sweet girl

Goodbye Sabrina.

I am so glad your passing was peaceful. Don't worry, we will take care of your mama and your daddy. We will all miss you.

Sabrina H.
8 short years
passed away at 10:40 a.m. on April 24, 2007.

Hanging in there

Well the weekend is gone and Sabrina is still with us. I have not seen her and do not intend to intrude on the family to see her but I have a contact that is far closer to the family than I and she is keeping me updated. Kristi sent a message this morning that they did not go over on Saturday as planned because they thought that might be the day and Sabrina's parents wanted to be alone with her. However, as she was still here on Sunday Kristi and another friend made dinner for them and took it over. They got to see her for a couple of minutes and were able to give her a kiss and rub her hand. Sabrina is very comforted and calm when her mama is near so they are spending most of their time together curled up in bed.

I am still very, very sad and so is my daughter. Kristi says that her son is having a really rough time too but is doing "okay" right now.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and prayers. It helps.

So sad!!

My heart hurts. My eyes are welling up with tears.

I just had to tell my little girl (7 years old) that her friend and former schoolmate who has terminal cancer, has taken a turn for the worse and her family does not expect her to live much longer. A good friend of mine is extremely close to the family, her son (8 years old) was "going to marry Sabrina someday". Kristi emailed me this afternoon to tell me that Sabrina's Hospice nurses believe that her passing could come as soon as this weekend, early next week and certainly by next weekend. This child is so sweet and loving. She is also the only child her parents have. They (her parents) adopted her when she was around 2. They have only had 6 years with their precious little girl and now...... I know that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all but this is just so heartwrenching. We are all sooooo very sad. I keep crying. I keep thinking, what if this were my child? How would I possibly handle this?

I am not religious but have to believe there is a better place waiting for this dear child who is being taken from us way too soon. Cancer is just a horrible, horrible thing. I hope the researchers find a way to cure it soon.

My heart hurts.

The wait is over!!

Woohooo DH and I have a healthy nephew as of 1:52 p.m. PST. Wyatt Michael shares a birthday with my grandmother who is turning 95 today. It sounds like it was a long, difficult labor but in the end, everyone is healthy and happy. Yippee.