A Year Ago This Week

Starting off, this week has seen a lot of changes and honestly I'm not really sure where this entry is going, so bear with me if I wander a bit. We had a small crew on Saturday but managed to get quite a bit done. I had Sean and Sarah and Gpa Vande Ree over on Saturday.

Sarah touched up the missed spots on the ceilings on the first floor while Grandpa stained more windows and then gave all stained windows a first coat of varnish to protect them from all of the dust that will be in the air. Essentially sealing them so later coats can be applied as the trim is reinstalled and it all can be finished in one swoop. It's amazing to see the details starting to come together and to see actual colors being applied throughout the house instead of stud-yellow or dust-cardboard-brown.

Sarah Paints the hall/Grandpa varnishes the windows

Go Grandpa, Go!


Sean and I spent the entire day taking things out and putting things in the house with a large telehandler. If you're not familiar with the construction world, a telehandler is a large forklift-like machine that has a telescoping arm that will reach to great heights. The machine I rented would reach to 36' and we needed every inch to reach the third floor.

We removed all SIX steam heat radiators which was a MAJOR event in of itself. The two that were in the third floor room weighed over 700 pounds each! Seriously, not real sure how I didn't blow out my back or Sean didn't have a blood vessel burst in his forehead. I had always thought part of the plan was to take them out, refinish them and replace them in the house (maybe one per floor) as a decorative item in the room. Now that they are out and I really don't want to test my back again, I'm at least considering, they may not make it back into the house. I'll take a look at how much it would cost to have them sand blasted and repainted vs. selling them online or to a salvage place and make a decision then. Jeni, the designer, is hoping that I don't put them back in. I might do so just so she'll have a design challenge ;-) We then lifted all of the trim boards for the second floor into what will be Ellie's room so that the installers could begin on Monday. That brings up another story of Meredith special interest magazines stepping in to design a few rooms for issues coming next Spring/Summer. I'll touch more on that later. We also lifted the last two windows up so they can be installed Friday. After that, my house will be sealed up with no drafts or flapping plastic!!! That hasn't been the case since January 13th! Finally, we hoisted the new bath tub for the master bathroom. That tub is HEAVY and HUGE! it's such an odd size that it took quite a bit of maneuvering and melon-scratching to get it in the air and through the window safely. The one thing I forgot to take out was the extra drywall, which at this point may prove to be an issue, but I'll deal with it later.

I lift the pallet to the 3rd floor/Grandpa watches closely

Sean & I STRUGGLE to move ONE register/THe Tub goes in the 2nd floor

Sean guides in the tub/I try not to hit the house

Sean thinks I got too close to the wall


This week was also the anniversary of the crash. I have a lot of things swirling in my head that I'm not sure will come out intelligently or is appropriate or even are things you care about, but I'll say them anyway.

The local news station taped a story and was aired on Monday evening locally and Tuesday evening elsewhere. The affiliate stations aired it in the Chicago/South Bend area for sure, don't know about other areas. If you haven't seen it, check it out here http://www.kcci.com/video/index.html. It's listed as 'Two Rivers Plane Crash First Anniversary' on the right in the navigation. I thought it was really well done and was really surprised at how much they had me on considering the other people are better looking, although Ellie is pretty darn cute!

How I know it aired in IN is because I took Tuesday off from work and drove to the crash site. I visited with the farmer and his wife who own the land. As you can imagine, when I was there last year I didn't really get to know them and wanted to see how this had affected them and how they were doing with it. Beyond the financial impact which really is of little concern in the larger picture, they were deeply affected by this and have since invested a great amount of time and money into creating a memorial at the crash site that is 200' due East of where the plane crashed. It was one of the most beautiful memorials I have seen and was done with great taste and thoughtfulness. Dale and his wife are faith-based people who are easy to talk to and who are hurting with every member of the families that lost a loved one that cold November night a year ago. While differently, they feel the pain of how immediate loss can be absolutely devastating. I talked with them for a few hours and went on my way to South Bend to stay with a friend's family for the night.

Front reads 'May this always be a place of rest for souls on their journey to heaven'

The back lists all who perished/A reminder of hope

Leslie N. O'Bannon 6/1/79-11/13/06

The temporary marker of the actual crash site


I didn't really know what to expect in my trip to IN and I'm not sure I really know yet the full effect it had on me. I know that I followed through on a promise I made a year ago when I visited the first time and that was to see the sunset on the night of the anniversary. It was amazing to see the hand of the Lord once again create an amazing display of color, serenity and calmness. I talked with the Lord and asked what He wants from all of this. There wasn't an immediate response other than the peaceful chirping of the birds, the stillness of the cool night and the calm settling in my heart.

There have been many great moments in the past year, there have have been many very tough moments. Through them all I have felt the Lord holding me up. Literally, I have often 'felt' the strength keeping me upright when I shouldn't have been able to stand, I have thought and said the words that I couldn't have thought, I have given hugs when I really needed to receive hugs. I don't know exactly what it is the Lord wants with me or this situation, and I have said this to a few people, but I feel that He wants this to have a great impact. On what, on whom, for how long I have no idea I just know that I have to trust that He won't let me go, He will continue to hold me up and give me the words that will continue to connect people together. I'm not really sure what I'd do if He didn't. Which leaves me no other option - I must trust Him, I must continue forward, the alternative is not an alternative.

More than you know, you have helped me to see this. You have prayed, given me your hours of service, given me countless hugs when I've needed them, given my words of encouragement. You have prayed when I didn't know it and you have prayed when I asked and you prayed with me. You have showed me the love of the Lord and I thank you. If I have shown the love of the Lord, it is because I have reflected that which is given to me. I still have a tough time trying to comprehend that love that has been given to me and not completely feel humbled by it. There have been a few times when folks have said that I'm amazingly strong, honestly I am only because the people around me have been fighting with me and lifting me up. You have been the hand of the Lord that continues to push me forward and keep me on the path that I'm traveling. You have helped me in more ways than I can list. Thank you for standing beside me in this extremely difficult time in my life. I could never have gotten here without you and I will continue to need you in the future. Less and less as the days go by, and hopefully there will be a time when you can lean on me. Thank you friend, I am forever be indebted.

-- John