Day 66: Remembering a Farm Kid

Posted by: Cris

This cute little dog needs a haircut and a flight home to Hawaii.
This is our little Summit (half poodle/half chihuahua). Hopefully in about a month she will be headed to Hawaii with the rest of her pack. It was great to see my Huskies for a few days while we were at Grandma & Grandpa Stickley's house. They were full of energy and glad to see me. I can't wait to get the yard finished...I just hope it starts moving faster than it has been so I can get them on their way. Plus, I hope that I haven't missed anything on their home quarantine for Hawaii so that they get to come straight home from the airport...keep those paws crossed.

Today, before heading back to Toledo, we pulled ourselves out of bed at a reasonable hour and got prettied up to head to church with Mammaw Nova.

Aunt Coral tried a new hairdo on Juneau:
Nothing better when you get out of a bathtub on a cold Ohio morning than to have a cousin waiting with a towel to cuddle you:

Summit is always ready for any cuddle she can get:

The major focus at church this morning was remembering a family from the church - earlier this week we had heard the horrible news about a 16 year old farm kid (a twin in fact) who was tragically killed in a very freak accident with a piece of farm machinery. It turned out that he and his family were members of Mammaw Nova's church. I was reminded once again this morning as everyone prayed for this family and their loss how incredibly fragile life can be. Though I never knew this young man or any of his family, I found myself very moved this week by this story. Having grown up as a farm kid, we were always mindful of the dangers that surrounded us; occasionally I would read a story of a tragic accident (and yes, most every farmer my grandpa's age, it seemed - except for my grandpa - was missing at least part of one finger) but I don't recall such an incident in our local farm community while I was growing up. I'm sure there were plenty of catastrophies that but for the grace of God could have involved me, any of my family members or friends.

This seems a particularly cruel accident because he was only 16, it was an incredibly freak accident, and he was a twin - Seeing firsthand the connection between my dear twin nieces, I can't imagine a loss more painful than what his brother must be going through. Remember the Warner family in your prayers.

After church, we headed out to El Camino Real for the Ohio version of authentic Mexican food.

Finally, tonight we headed back to Toledo and finished off the evening with a dip in Aunt Coral's hottub. It was in the mid 20's outside but that hot water felt GREAT! Nova and Juneau LOOOVE getting in that thing. They are usually the first ones to ask every night if we can get in "the hot pool".