"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." -Rabindranath Tagore

"Let us accustom ourselves to regard death as a form of life which we do not yet understand." -Maurice Maeterlinck

The Missionary!

Allison left for her mission last week, to the Indonesia Jakarta Mission. She was super excited and I'm happy to have a missionary to write!

New Hat

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass, they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal.
~ William Penn, More Fruits of Solitude (as quoted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Summertime

Here are some of the fun things we've done this summer:
Clara, Sarah and Grandpa being silly on the boat.

Clara is finally starting to like playing in the sand (last time we went to the beach she wouldn't even walk on the sand). She loves wearing her sunglasses, too.

She now sleeps with an army of "friends": Pooh, Eeyore, Dumbo, Baby Doll, Monkey and Little Bear, a blanket and at least one pillow. She always looks so cute when she wakes up.

Roadtrip

Clara just took her first roadtrip to West Virginia and did pretty well. She loved seeing all the horses and cows along the way. The countryside up there is just breathtaking and I'm getting really excited to move up there. We stopped at the New River Gorge. Here's a little taste of how beautiful it was in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.

"I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

A friend and former roommate of mine had this quote up in our room, which I always thought it was a good thought, but I guess I never thought much of it. But now, looking back on the past few months, I have come to understand it a little better. I have found I look at others and at myself differently and in a more eternal context. I am becoming aware of how suffering and sorrow has changed, and continues to change, me. I am sure that in her trials, Angela allowed herself to be brought closer to her Savior and that she learned many things because of them.

One of Angela's hospice nurses told me she thought of her vocation as a "ministry." As I thought about that afterward, I realized that I agreed with her. She was doing what the Savior himself would be doing if he were here: He would be mourning with those who mourn, succoring the sick and sharing His love. I'm trying to do the same.