May

Last fall, we planned out the last leg of our USA trailer tour. Well, except for the Alaska trip to come another time. We knew as soon as the accident happened that there was no way we would leave my parents and take off for the whole 3 month trip we had planned, so it all was cancelled.  Except we had already bought some pretty spendy tickets to the Kentucky Derby. They were a two day ticket for the Oaks and Derby day, which included all the food and drinks and believe it or not...parking. Churchill Downs has a place online where you can sell them, but they would not give you back the cost you paid and it seemed complicated. We talked about driving just to the Derby, but there was one hitch...I really wanted to be back the day after the derby because it was Mom's first Mother's Day without Cyndi. So driving home in time was not possible. I started looking online for airfare. It was crazy expensive! But I discovered that if I bought a ticket to Cincinnati, it was less than half the cost. If we rented a car, it was only an hour away. So I booked hotels and that is exactly what we did. 

We arrived two days before so that I could see a few other things that were on my list if we had taken the trailer.

First off was the Ark Encounter. It is a life size replica of Noah's Ark. I was so impressed as we walked towards it. 

Inside was not as impressive. It was partly a recreation, but most of it was set up to teach about it and prove the Bible story to be the truth. Of course I believe it, but I don't think most people there needed to have it proven to them. They had two theaters going with explanations about the Bible and a gift shop on every floor and places to buy snacks. Inside was a huge let down.

Here is what I expected it all to be like.

More of that and less of this...

The next day we took a drive in the countryside to see the horse farms and spent time in the capital city, Frankfort.

And then came Oaks and Derby days!

Oaks Day was all about breast cancer awareness. Everyone was wearing pink and it was so much fun watching all the outfits. The men were as much into dressing up as the women.

As soon as you enter, all the food and drinks, including alcohol, is included. Then when you get to your certain area, there is more food that is not included in the general admission. Of course the more you spent on tickets, the food gets different. Our food was served buffet style and you could stand at little tables to eat or take it back to our seats in the grandstands. The upper areas had sit down tables overlooking the track. oh well...

The official derby drink is the mint julep. I tried one, but it wasn't nearly as good as the other derby drink called the pink lily. They served them to us in real glasses to keep. We had a pretty good collection of them going until they got stuck together and we could not get them apart, so we left them in the hotel. I managed to get one of each glass home. That is enough anyway, right?

Our seats were in the front row and even had a handy little glass holder.

Derby Day was less pink and a little more formal, but still showy. So many huge hats, even on the men. Had we known, we would have done ourselves up a little more. John bought himself a Derby baseball cap.

In the general area, you just walked up to any stand and asked for whatever you wanted, they had people with trays walking around passing out drinks and food. The only place you had any kind of a wait was at the fruit stand. I waited 30 minutes to get those strawberry-bananas on a stick! Oh, but they were so good!

Right after arriving on Derby day, the Navy marched the official rose garland for the winning horse. It was enclosed in a gold and glass case.

Our seats were in a covered stand at the first turn. Some of the races were in the grass and others in the dirt. 

The stands were packed!

Nice to see a lot of security everywhere.

These two guys spent all day both days on this bench, planning out their bets. The one with the hat filled me in on just how to bet and exactly which horses, of course.

I only bet once, my horse came in 4th. Oh well, nice to hope.

We made it home in time for Mother's Day. Lindy and I gave Mom a gift card for flowers and that week we went plant shopping. It was nice to see them filling the car with them. Nice to see that they still have hope and are going on as much as possible.

Spring has been wet and cold here. Flowers have happened, but are way behind normal.

There is a hydrangea tree here that is amazing. Full of flowers and it gets better and better the close you get to it.

And the rhododendrons!  Wow! They are covered in flowers. The bushes are no longer bushes, but more like trees.

My succulent from Daniel is about to bloom. He started it from a big plant and gave it to me on our last trip down.

Like I said, it has been wet here. Poor birds don't know what to do.

I know its a weed, but I still like them.

We have had a few deer come through the yard. They just love my roses.

This guys spent the whole day calling out for a mate.

Emily sent a photo of our great-grandson! I sure wish she was close to us so we could share this time with her. It makes me sad to have her so far away from home.

These two have had to have a bunch of teeth pulled! Josiah had eight pulled and Arianna had two pulled. (on different days) They each got to spend time at our place recuperating afterwards. They are getting ready for braces. Lina had a sick day too. She thought we needed to do some sewing, so we made a new bear.

Another hard step. 

We have emptied Cyndi and Dan's home, their shop. We sold their cars and boat. We sold the house. I say we, but it was Mom and Dad. They let me do little things, like I carried in boxes and then watched as Mom went through each piece of paper, each photo, in each box of memories. Sometimes I had to leave the room instead of watching her force herself through that pain. 

But those big decisions, like listing the house, selling the cars and boat, listing their business, they have taken that on completely. Sometimes I started thinking I should be taking those things on instead of them, not because they can't handle it, but because they have had to deal with so much just losing their daughter. I just feel this need to protect them and keep them from more pain, but they keep showing how brave and strong they are and fought through their pain. All I have really been able to do is walk beside them through this and encourage them and share the tears.

Below is one of the hardest days. The last day there, as I drove in, I noticed that all of Cyndi's Forget-me-nots were in full bloom. 

Tears. 

I stopped and took a photo of them, along with the house. I dug up a few starts, for me, Mom, Jessi and one that I took to the cemetery. I took a walk alone around the place, thinking of them and going through another goodbye. And there in the back yard was the bleeding heart plant blooming its heart out. 

Yup, it was hard. 

A really hard day. 

 But it got worse. It came time to lock it up one last time and Mom and Dad got into Dan and Cyndi's truck, which they decided to buy from their estate, and they drove it out. I could hardly see through my tears to take a photo. Cyndi used to always, I mean always, ride in the seat beside Dad. And now it was driving out for the very last time. 

without them

Oh, but that is not all. Just a few days later, came Cyndi's birthday. 

Jessi and I took flowers to their graves the day before and made sure it was looking OK as far as grass and weeds. Mom and Dad took some flowers in the afternoon and we agreed to go to dinner together. Mom said we had to try our best to make it a day Cyndi would have been happy with. It turned out OK and we even ended with a toast to Cyndi before the night was over.

Yes, I am so proud of them. 

I see how they have to struggle to keep on going on. I know it would be easier for them to just give in to it all and give up. But they get up, get dressed and go through another day. 

For that I am so grateful.

The locket that Mom has on, we found in Cyndi's things. Mom and Dad gave each of us girls one for Christmas one year. When she spotted it in the box, she opened it and saw Dan and Cyndi's pictures cut and pasted inside. Without hesitation, with tears falling, Mom put that necklace on. 

She hasn't taken it off yet. 

I ended the month with a trip to Eugene with Jessi and Rachel. Jessi is a huge fan of Lysa Terkeurst, a Christian author and speaker. Jessi has read all of her books and has found so much encouragement in her hard times from her. Rachel has read some of the books too, so when Jessi asked me to go with them, I said yes. It was a really good night. Dinner out and plenty of time to talk with the girls as we drove to and from.

Way back in February, Ariel took his citizenship test. He was elated when he passed it. But because of Covid, he had to go alone and there was nobody there to celebrate with him when he got the results. On top of that, we were dealing with our fresh pain and it just didn't feel right to them to make a big deal out of their joy in the midst of all of this pain that we were all feeling.

Well, they have the best neighbors. They were greeted with cupcakes and flowers that evening. 

But that was not the end of it. Nope. Those neighbors got a permit from the city to close the street and they invited everyone around the block to come to celebrate this great moment in Ariel's life. The last Saturday of the month was their big neighborhood celebration. It turned out great and they are so blessed to have such great neighbors.