A Great Picture During Rough Times

In 1997--or at least I think it was 1997--our family had another one of those years. Ann's mom suffered horribly through ALS or Lou Gherig's Disease.

It took a very long time for doctor's to diagnose it, which added to the frustration as Erma lost the use of her legs and her speech became slurred.

There were worries about stroke.

When Ann asked one doctor investigating the situation early during the problem, he asked her who Lou Gherig was.

I did an exchange during that fall. I had German guests, an entire family. Ann would take Kristin, and the two of them would travel to Malad to help Erma on the weekend.

I had mostly field trips with the exchange group on weekends, so it worked.

Then summer arrived. Erma was not well. The worst decision of my life was taking Ann and Kristin on that exchange, although I needed another chaperone desperately. There were many problems during that experience.

Ann was in Germany a week, and Erma passed away. Then came the second decision I made, that was catastrophic. I kept Kristin in Germany rather than having her return to the funeral.

Personally, I think it took years for Kristin to work with some of those issues about Erma's passing. This picture in the posting is a good one. It shows a family in the most positive way: strong, united, and committed to support one another in spite of the horrible experience their mother endured.

I have another picture I took of Ann in Germany after the funeral. I hope I lost that one.

It shows her pain and remorse at the time. Ann never shows things like that outwardly. She never complains. She never talks badly about anyone, which is another incredible influence in my own life.

I often want to fix things, making everything better immediately. Life never happens that way, not ever.

And for the record, anyone reading this should realize why I react negatively, when someone tells me how wonderful the German exchange trips were.

Yes, it was nice to be in Germany, but chaperoning students through the same places for that many years is not a pleasure trip, and that's before you consider the fact that I watched over 8-24 teenagers, who had no idea how dangerous some of their decisions were potentially.

I'm glad I did them for students, who would never have had the chance, but I recognize the sacrifices my family made for that opportunity.