On Day 27 of David’s stem cell transplant, Jim and I fly west to attend a Hazen reunion in Fort Benton, Montana. It’s the 80th birthday of both my Uncle Herb and his wife, Judy, as well as their 60th wedding anniversary. My 91-year-old dad, my brother Timothy, sister Maggie, and her husband John stay in the charming Grand Union Hotel, while Jim and I rent a two bedroom apartment and host Peter, Xiomara, 15-month-old Andrew, and Sam. I’m thrilled to share the experience, meeting Montana relatives and visiting the places where my dad and uncle grew up, so different from Metro Boston.
We drive out to the abandoned ranch house where my dad was raised, and trudge up a prickly-stubble pickup-truck trail through the wheat field that surrounds the old homestead.
We crawl through a window and gingerly walk the old, creaky floors. I find three composition books: travel journals of Grampa’s. Inside there is no text, just lists of highway numbers he drove on in each state. For many years he roamed the country during the farmer's quiet season of winter.
July 2016
I finish Rare Bird, a memoir by Anna Whiston-Donaldson, describing her experience of losing her 12-year-old son in a freak drowning accident, and also read Letter to My Husband, a grief book written by Jill Truman in the year following her husband's death.
While repairing a cracked plastic cake carrier, I get superglue all over my fingertips, making accurate typing on my laptop impossible for the evening. Next day I teach a Sunday School class and make our famous mac & cheese for our Weekly Gathering.
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I've been following Anna Donaldson's blog for years. She's a fantastic writer. The story of her son's death is so tragic.
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