Week in Review

It's been one heck of a week. My mom's dad passed away as you all know by my previous post. She came home last weekend and she still has a heavy heart(added to by the events of this week) so we have spent time throughout the week talking about Poppy Cream and comforting each other.

On Monday, two horrible things happened. First of all, this week at work has been really bad. I am not sure if you heard about the plane crash in Gearhart, OR. It was televised around the country from what I hear. If you did not hear, a small plane took off from Seaside, OR and shortly thereafter hit a tree and crashed into a house in Gearhart, OR (which is right next to Seaside). The house burst into flames about 20 seconds after the crash, and there were three explosions that could be felt all around Gearhart (there's only 1,000 people in this town). There were two vacationing families inside, there for a family reunion, with one couple out taking a walk when it happened. The couple was fine as was the other mother who was able to get one of her children out, while another of her children climbed out a window. But the single mom's third child and the two children of the couple out walking perished in the burning home. There were two people on the plane and they were both employees of my company, Frank Tooey and Jason Ketcheson.

As soon as we found out, about half of the office erupted into emotional displays and some had to leave. Most of the people who work in my office have worked for the company for 10+ years and knew these men really well. There was a lot of crying and the mood was very somber. Now I didn't know them well, but as you all know I am emotional and can easily empathize and sympathize with the people who are grieving. It did not get much better on Tuesday when some people who had been on the road traveling, returned to the office and received to this news. On Wednesday and Thursday, people went down to help with grief counseling and came back more shook up and upset than before. One of my own bosses who keeps everything inside, called me on Friday as she was driving home. She was sobbing and it was so hard to hear her cry, "I just want to get home to my family." Overall, the spirit in the office has been very sad as of late. Like I said, I did not know these men well but I knew of them and that they were great men. Both left families behind and will be greatly missed. I hope that those at my office who do not believe in another life to come, will still feel peace. It's so hard to see some people in my office grieving worse than some because they don't believe these men to be in a better place. Having this knowledge does not make the pain of losing someone away, but it lifts the burden of grieving just a little. It offers hope.

The other thing that started on Monday is that my mom's best friend, who is practically family, went in for a scan of her back since it has been hurting so much lately. They found nothing but her legs has been bothering her so they did X-Rays of her legs. They found a 1 1/2 inch section where it appeared her bone was missing. It was dark and spongy. She went to her doctor with the X-Rays who referred her to an oncologist. She is now being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I say being diagnosed because they are doing a biopsy to find out if it is melanoma or myeloma. One is a blood cancer and the other is skin cancer that can metastasize throughout your body. Either way, this is really bad news. We're trying to stay positive but it's kind of hard right now.

I hope your week was good and I hope this week to come offers hope to us all. With all my love - Kylee