People

"People" is the title of an unfinished poem. Stephanie was working to write and rewrite a poem to express how she felt. She had been fighting cancer for so long and had won battles and taken some hard knocks and was trying to express in writing what was going on in that beautiful mind and heart of hers. She never finished her poem, but I believe she lived every word of it right to the last. Stephanie died on Monday, March 26 after a 2 year fight with cancer. She was tough and had guts. She kept her hopes high and never complained in the midst of her own pain and suffering. She was extremely gifted and talented and showed so much promise for whatever she set her mind to. She loved in a big way and showed no partiality to anyone. She prayed to God for help and believed in Him. She was so real in how she lived. She was 15 and has left us all too soon. We miss her greatly. Here is her unfinished poem,

"People"

Just keep walking, don't look down
Ignore the past and where we're bound
Live in the moment, the second, right now
But that's not enough when you take your bow

We think we don't need, we think we're okay
There's always tomorow, always next day
"I know you'll get better, I can work on it later"
But you'll find if you don't, it's the people that matter

If something flew at you from around the bend
That altered and rushed and changed the end
I wasn't, I didn't, dreams unfulfilled
But the question I land on is "How will they feel?"

Friends and family, daughters and sons
Will the celebrate, mourn or forget when you're done
When it comes down to it, it's not what you bequeath
But the hearts that you've touched and the memories you leave

So here's the thing
One lifetime isn't very long in the long run
It's impossible to see the end
Stuff could fly at you just around the bend
When it really comes down to it
It's the people you love, the people that love you
That makes your true legacy
If this was it, your very last day
What would you do, what would you say
We think we don't need, we think we're okay
There's always tomorrow, always next day
I wasn't, I didn't, dreams unfulfilled
But the question I land on is how will they feel

One lifetime's not much, so here's the thing
Take care what you live for, the song that you sing
Yes, live in the moment, just remember the people
If you've got tons of them, your life will be full

She lived a short, but full life. I am so blessed to have known her.

the wheels on the bus

I have been riding the bus lately. I have been intimidated up until now because I did not understand and had no experience with the bus system. But that has all changed these past few weeks. I have been using it to get everywhere. It really isn't nearly as bad or as difficult as I had thought it would be. And the people on the bus are much more sane in reality than in my stereotype of what I thought they would be. A lot of times I feel as if this is a new adventure in my life and I am trying to embrace this period of riding the bus because who knows how long it will last and in just a few weeks it has added some fun moments to my life!

Here Kitty Kitty!

So whenever we get together with my parents, my dad likes to tell us about how there is a cougar hanging around the Trout Lake valley. It's one thing for them to be up in the hills and forests surrounding Trout Lake because they have always been there, but it is another thing to be spending its time in town. Apparently they think one is going along Trout Creek, which runs through town and is just a short walk from my parents home. We like to talk about the size of them and how they are a very sneaky cat. Here is a picture that my aunt emailed to me of some guys who had to kill a Cougar up in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I don't know the details behind the story or anything, but the thing that surprises me is the size of these things! Since it is such a topic of interest to my pops, Jeb and he like to look up cougar attacks online. There have been a number of them, but one more recently was the story of an elderly couple who were hiking in California. Apparently the cougar attacked from behind and had gotten a hold of the man's scalp, but he was still able to yell for help to his wife. The wife apparently grabbed a large stick and started hitting the cat until it started to run away and afterwards she scared the cat off by screaming and waving the stick in the air. So if by chance you come across a mountain lion, know that you can intimidate it by acting big. Hopefully none of us will ever have to encounter one though.