June 13
Last week I had two days where I felt as if a great load had been lifted. I felt peace and contentment, I smiled and laughed just because. It came as an emotional reprieve, for which I thanked God.
It’s been followed by a week with many tears. Our anniversary is coming up. I planned a trip to Colorado to spread the rest of his ashes in one of his favorite places.
We traveled to Colorado in 2024, as we had done for several years. Norm would rent an OHV for us to drive all around the San Juan Mountains near Ouray and Lake City…he drove, I rode. We visited the ghost towns and the mines. We stopped at the overpasses to admire the beauty of the area. We drove the Million Dollar Highway. We ate lunch and shopped in Silverton and Telluride.
One day when we stopped for a pb&j lunch on one of the trails, Norm looked at me and said, “This is the last year I’ll come here.” That surprised me since he enjoyed it so much. He spoke about other places we wanted to visit. He always wanted to go to the south of France, back to Yellowstone, a trip to finish the National Parks in Alaska, another Viking cruise in Europe…all planned for 2025.
When we got back, he cancelled Alaska. Looking back, I think he knew something was seriously wrong.
We kept the grands the following week, he played with them, but not with the same energy as before. He went to bed when they did and slept late in the morning…I attributed his lack of energy to the trip. We had a great week with Sierra and Sawyer, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, the park, playing with water guns…but after that, other than a few face time calls, they never saw him again.
So why am I going back to the last place that I saw him truly happy? I think because it is where I last saw him happy.
Where’s the joy?
I am thankful for the time I had with Norm. I’m glad that I went with him to Colorado for those trips into the mountains.
I pray that I continue to seek the Lord and His will for my life.
I rejoice that God promises to never let me go.
Where’s the joy? The Lord gives it, sometimes when I least expect it.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:1-9
TRICIA LATHROP 