Saturday, August 12, 2017
I went online to find out more about the arrowheads that I had found. There were so many different kinds, and it seemed impossible to find out anything about the ones I had.
I remembered seeing arrowheads on display at the museum in town. I went there and showed the man in charge of the museum the picture I had.
When he had looked at the picture, he said they looked authentic, but he didn’t think they were because I had found them in my backyard. He said if I had found one, he would have thought it was real, but two on the same day were highly unlikely. He was sure someone had bought them, then put them in my backyard to play a joke on me.
Monday, August 14, 2017
As I was working in the yard, I wondered who had shown me where to find the arrowheads. I wondered if it was my grandma? I felt the answer was no. Was it, Grace? No, it was a male. Was it Mark? No. Then the man who had given them to me said, “You don’t know me.” Since I wanted to know more about him, I asked him to tell me. He said, “I loved this land long before you were even born.” Then he left. I thought who could that be? I wished he would come back and tell me.
Who could have loved this land before I was born? We were the first ones to build a house on the property. Throughout the day, I kept thinking about it. Then I realized Native Americans had lived here. Then I wondered if he was the Native American one who had made them.
The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that he was the one who had made them and wanted to be the one to pass them on to me.
Over the years, I have wondered about the arrowheads. When I learned about Google Lens, I put it over the picture I had of them. I was finally able to learn more about them!
I was excited that Google Lens could tell that they had been buried or exposed to the elements for a very long time. It conformed to me that they were real.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
I made a sign to advertise my preschool. It’s going to say Safari Perschool and have my phone number on it. Then I will put it in my front yard so that other people can join if they want to. I am so excited to start teaching again.
I moved the little Angel statue that’s holding a dove and the stand closer to where the tragedy had taken place. I believe it’s the most sacred place in my yard.
I put the larger Angel on the new stand, where the smaller one had been. I also got a plaque and glued it to the Angel in memory of Mark.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Johny called me from Georgia. He sounded depressed. He said he needed to finish a job, and then he would be home next week.
I told him that I was worried about him and asked if he wanted me to come and stay with him until his last job was done. He told me his other two roommates were still there. He assured me that he would be fine.
After I had talked to Johny, I got worried. 3 people on our street have committed suicide in the past couple of months. Mark, a lady up the street. She had gone into the garage and turned on her car. Her husband found her the next day. A couple of houses from that, a policeman had gotten into a fight with his wife. She had called the police for help. After the police arrived, they asked him to come out with his hands on his head. Instead, he shot himself.
After having these tragedies, I couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to Johny, so I called Richard and asked him not to work late so he could drive me to the airport.
When I arrived in Georgia, it was late evening. I called Johny and told him that I had just landed and asked if he could come pick me up.
When he came to pick me up, he cried. He then hugged me tight and asked, “How did you know? How did you know to come?” I told him I didn’t. After what had happened in our neighborhood, I didn’t want to take a chance on anything happening to him.
When we got to the apartment, I asked Johny where his roommates were. He said they had finished up their jobs this evening and had headed back to Utah. I said you had told me that you weren’t going to be alone tonight! He said, “I didn’t want you to worry about me.” Then he added, I can’t tell you how glad I am that you came!
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Johny went to finish up his last installation. When he was done, we went to have something to eat, then back to the apartment so he could pack.
Friday, August 18, 2017
This morning I went with Johny to pick up a dog. It was his manager who asked him to bring it back to Utah with him, since he and his family had planned to fly.
Then we got in Johny’s car and started driving.
We drove through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois.
It was late evening when we arrived in Kansas. We then found a motel to rest for the night.
I can’t believe how far we have driven in one day. The worst part was having the dog in the car. Since he didn’t know us, he was filled with anxiety and kept pushing his head to the front seat between Johny and me. His breath stank, and I kept getting his slobber on me. However, I was grateful to have spent time with Johny.
When we finally arrived at the motel, we were so tired and couldn’t wait to go to bed. The motel was hot, so we turned on the air conditioner. The air conditioner was so loud that we didn’t know if we would be able to sleep. We had to decide if we wanted to be hot or listen to the noise.
Since the heat was unbearable, we decided to keep the air conditioner on and hoped we could get some sleep.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
In the morning, we got back in the car and continued on our way. We drove through Missouri and Nebraska. When it got evening, Johny and I didn’t want to stop at another motel, so we kept driving.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
We drove all night and only stopped to go to the bathroom and to get something to eat. It had been hard to stay awake, but together we did it!
We finally reach Wyoming, next stop Utah.
I kept telling myself I could do hard things and reminding myself that I was grateful to spend this time with Johny.
It was late Sunday evening by the time we got to our house.
We had driven 33 hours in two days, plus we had a stinky dog in the car. I felt like I deserved a medal!
When we finally arrived home, Johny thanked me for coming and for being with him on the drive home. It made it all worth it!
Sunday, September 3, 2017
All week, I prepared lessons since preschool was starting on September 6.
Last Sunday, when I got home from Georgia, Richard told him he had Labor Day off. He was going to help me in the yard with some of the things I needed done before Preschool started.
Richard came home late this evening because he had been doing his calling. I told him I couldn’t believe how much there was to do for his calling. He said he didn’t mind, because he enjoyed serving.
Then he told me that he wouldn’t be able to help me tomorrow. He said something had come up at work, so he wouldn’t be able to have the day off after all.
I had looked forward to his help. It was hard for me to do everything on my own since he was either on a business trip, working late, or off doing his calling every night of the week. Even on Mondays.
I told him I was going to talk to the Bishop and see if there wasn’t something that could be done so that he wouldn’t have to be gone so much. He said that he was away so much for his calling to help lighten the Bishop’s load.
I told him I was still going to ask the Bishop to call more people, since there was so much to do for their calling.
He got mad and said, “Don’t you dare talk to the Bishop! I am doing the Lord’s work because it’s the Christ-like thing to do. Don’t you dare add more for the Bishop to worry about!”
Then he reminded me that when he retired, he would help me with the things that needed to be done around the house and the yard. Once he had caught up on everything, we would travel to all the places that we had planned. Life would be so much simpler then, and I just needed to hang in there.
Monday, September 4, 2017
This morning I set to work early in the yard. Since it is Labor Day, Mark’s dad and brother stopped by and put a flag in the yard in memory of their son.
After they had left, I couldn’t stop crying. I thought about my life and wondered how it had turned out this way. I had envisioned it to be so different now that I was grown, and I missed my grandkids terribly!
I felt so much pain it seemed unbearable! Then I felt Mark next to me. He told me to go work by the flag. So I did.
As I was working on the stepping stones, a gust of wind came. The flag draped around my shoulders. It felt like a hug.
Then Mark told me it was okay for me to be sad. He, too, was sad that he couldn’t spend this day with his family.
I was surprised to hear him say that he was sad because I had imagined it would be different once you had passed on.
He then promised me that someday my life would be different and I would be able to spend time with my grandkids.
It wouldn’t be for a long time, but to trust that the day would come! Until then, I was to enjoy the kids in my neighborhood and the little ones who would soon come to my home for preschool. He stayed with me until I stopped crying.
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