Today the day started slowly. I slept in while Lily helped run the house in the morning (thank you Lily!). At 9:30 the kids did their church session and then Lily and I had our church. After church, I saw Clarissa dressed in this adorable outfit telling Lily what keys to press on her computer by pointing with a wand.
We then got everyone in their snow gear and headed to Salt Lake City. We first met Laura from the Community of Christ to get our Lent packets and then we went to Churchill Junior High School (Dad and Suzanne’s amazing recommendation) for sledding. This is the first time as a family we’ve done serious sledding and it was so so so so fun. The first sledding spot was hard to get to because the top of the hill was slanted and right next to a fence, so we had to grab the fence and hold on as we walked to the spot where we wanted to sled. But once we got there, everything was perfect. The hill was the perfect size to be super fun, but not too steep for the kids. It was such a good time!
After we loaded everyone into the car, I ran back to the hills and did three big runs on my own. It was super intense and I was careful not to go over any jumps because I got going really, really fast.
After sledding, we went to David and Olivia’s house to see them and so Basil could socialize with Walter and Willow. Willow loves to play and was so excited to play-fight with Basil. She kept lunging him, poking him, chasing him etc, and Basil would just run away and hide. Willow was so eager to play that a few times she had to be picked up or have her attention diverted to give Basil a break. Lily and I were both a little bit concerned that this was not a good experience for Basil, and then the magic happened. Something clicked and Basil came into his own. He started barking, pawing back, and really getting into it. After another five minutes, he was chasing Willow and dishing her everything she had been dishing him. His tail was wagging and they played for a solid 15 – 20 minutes. They looked like they were having so much fun, and it was very very entertaining to watch. Here are two videos after the pictures.
After that super-fun play-date, we visited my dad and Suzanne briefly to show them the new puppy which was super fun as always. As a bonus, I got to see Ed on his way out. Ed is great, and I hope to call him soon as I miss seeing more.
Then we all got pizza, dropped some pizza off to Tess, one of Lily’s Thrive friends who is moving to Florida tomorrow, and then dropped some pizza off to our renters, one of whom we just learn was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Both pizza deliveries were Lily’s idea and I love her wonderful heart.
Then we went home and had the best time hanging out with Jess (from Lily’s Thrive group) and her daughter Lynlee. We talked, played Otrio together and caught up on life. Mary showed Lynlee her art and her desk and really loved spending time with her. Lydia was the one who suggested Otrio. Jess is so fun to hang out with and we had a really good time, and her daughter Lynlee was also very delightful. The time flew by and when the visit came to an end, we said our goodbyes.
What a fun, fun fun Sunday.
At night when I tucked the girls in to bed, Mary told me she’d been thinking about what Ammon said earlier. Ammon was talking about death. He was really impacted by a movie he saw a couple months ago about mushrooms that showed a rat decaying and turning into dirt and mushrooms and talks a lot now about how he doesn’t want to turn to earth.
Mary said, “Dad, when are you going to die?” I told her, “Mary, you have a long, long time before that happens. Bappa has 30 more years to live and I have 30 more years to live after he dies. Mary, it will be so long from now. It will be 3,000 weeks or like 20,000 days! That is like counting to one-hundred, two-hundred times. It’s a long long time away. And when the time comes for me to go, you will be ready to let me go.” It was clear she didn’t want me to die, and then she gave me a very long (perhaps a full 10 seconds) hug. It was a very sweet and very tender moment.
Mary, just a few thoughts to add. I will always be your dad. I will always love you. Even after I die, I will live on. You can read this blog and remember our times together. There will be many ways to remember me. And you can always know, that one of the things that always makes me happiest is to know that you are finding happiness, and making the world around you happier. I love you to the ends of the earth. Death is a part of life and love is eternal and we will always always always have that bond. I will always be your dad. And you will always be my girl. You fill me with so much joy, happiness and wonder. We have so so so so much more to experience together before we need to worry about being apart. If we truly live out our relationship the best we can, we will feel like we did it fully, and it will feel ok when it is time for me to go. So yes, on with the skiing, the backpacking, the projects to work on together, the recitals for me to attend, the trips to go on, the fishing, the biking and on and on and on. We will do it all, and know we did it well and feel satisfied and ready when I have to go. I love you. I love you. I love you!