searching for "normal"

One of my very favorite people in all of the world died last weekend. My father-in-law, my friend. I could never adequately put into words what an incredible guy he was. Seriously, he's the kind of person who could have a book written about him.

Travis grew up on a farm in Nebraska during the Great Depression. His childhood wasn't an easy one. And yet despite the long hours of hard, hard work he put in daily on that farm, he finished school. And then he joined the Army. It was near the end of WWII, and he spent his service mostly in Japan. Like many veterans, he nearly never talked of that time in his life. When he arrived back home, he put himself through college...all the way through to earning his Ph.D. in organic chemistry. He worked for Rohm and Haas for 37 years, before retiring with a truckload of patents under his belt. He rubbed elbows with people like Linus Pauling and Wernher von Braun.

But he was a very down-to-earth, modest man. He didn't talk about his accomplishments as a source of pride. No, his joy came from his family, his gardens, his cement sculptures. He was undoubtedly one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. And one of the most hard-working. Idleness was not in his nature!

My children and I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Rich is simply the most fabulous daddy I can imagine. It's not surprising...he had the perfect role model. Even in a time when dads weren't often so involved, Travis was. He fixed the boys breakfast before school and took off work to come to their tennis matches. Rich's bedroom was right next to his parents' as a kid, and Rich suffered through growing pains and insomnia during different parts of his childhood. He said that all he ever had to do was give a little knock on the wall, and his dad always appeared instantly to rub his legs or fix warm milk.

And he never stopped providing support to his family. Physical, financial, emotional. He was always there. It would take months to list everything he did to help our little family. He helped us move and put up fences and build bookshelves. He stayed with Annie and me (because I was still not quite recovered from hyperemesis during my pregnancy with Gray) while Rich had to go to England. And he came and stayed with us again during my pregnancy with Max. I was put on bed rest at 24 weeks, and we tried to make it on our own. But it was so hard on Rich, working and trying to take care of the rest of us, and after six weeks he finally took up his dad's offer to come stay with us. Travis spent four weeks helping our family make it through, without ever complaining, before Max was born. It was only appropriate that he got to be one of the first people to meet Max, still in the NICU.

Max was the last of eight incredible grandchildren. And he was so proud of each and every one of them! He was always so incredibly supportive of Annie. He absolutely loved her poetry. And she absolutely adored him! The boys are sad about Grandpa, but they aren't truly comprehending. Annie, on the other hand, understands. She's having a bit of hard time. Who can blame her?!!

During the summer of 2006, we took a wonderful vacation. We saw some amazing stuff like Devil's Tower and Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, but the most special part of the trip was getting to spend part of it with Rich's parents. They drove out from Pennsylvania and met us in Nebraska. Travis showed us the farm and all around the area where he grew up. And then they traveled with us through the rest of Nebraska visiting Ash Falls and Agate Fossil Beds, before they headed back home and we continued on with the rest of our vacation. We simply couldn't be more grateful that we got to spend that very special time together! Though I have photos from more recent times together, I've just always loved this picture from that vacation...



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We arrived home last night after a week spent with the family. A good week. A hard week. A necessary week. I miss everyone already. But it's a fact of life, that we all have to now find a way to put some normalcy back in our days.

I can't wait to get caught back up with everyone out here...I've really missed reading what you've all been up to. But it will probably take a few days. You know how it is...lots of catching up to do...mail, e-mail, laundry, school, etc. In the meantime, I do hope you've all been well!