Memorial Day, 2015

When we arrived, two teenage girls that used to live in our neighborhood were standing in front of Elle's grave. One leaned down and placed a little homemade potted plant on her grave. They went to two other graves—one behind Elle's, where a friend's mother was buried, and the grave of a fellow high school student who had completed suicide. 

I can't get over how thoughtful some people are. 

Like these three and their mom who visit Elle's grave several times a year and bring her homemade cards, flowers, cupcakes, and pumpkins, and then send us pictures.

I don't know who brought any of the other plants or flowers on Elle's grave. People amaze me. We hadn't brought any, because we biked there. I figured I'd come by later with some, but we were so covered! It chokes me up. I can't even express how grateful I feel. 

I've gone to Elle's grave often and am almost always alone in the cemetery. On Memorial Day, it was so interesting to see the families of the graves surrounding Elle's and wonder how they are adjusting.

Pffff, Mia...

We couldn't stop laughing at one point, and at another, I cried. The kids ganged up and all hung on to me while I recovered. 

MK decided we needed a family prayer, so we stood in a family hug
 and bowed our heads. We all felt that sweet moment.

Meanwhile, Rob and Cy were flying home from a basketball tournament in Compton. Tyus Jones (6'1" Duke player headed for the NBA draft) was there watching the tournament. (Cy's hoping he makes it to 6'1")

And Getty was otherwise engaged. He'd slept over for a birthday party the night before, gone to Betos at midnight with the guys and a dad, fell asleep sometime after 2:00 a.m., then put up flags all over the neighborhood at 6:30 a.m. After that, he and the scouts headed out for what was supposed to be a 30-minute conditioning bike ride for a scout camp bike tour in June. Two hours later, he returned caked in mud with broken brakes and pedal.

He texted me the rest of the day's plans:

I figured I wouldn't mess with his fun.

A few days later we get an email from the scout leader:

Please give your son a pat on the back. He did something hard!

The Varsity Scouts/Teachers Quorum had an eventful ride yesterday on Memorial Day. Every boy proved that they could accomplish difficult things. In this case, the difficult thing was dealing with: 

• slippery clay mud

• gummed up bikes

• loss of brakes

• loss of gears

• prickly bushes

• an endurance ride

• equipment failure

This kind of ride makes one really enjoy the uneventful rides on sunny and dry days!

Braden was our poster boy for the ride (see attached)

Thanks for having me along. —Brandon

It was a good hard day.