It is a delight to be the spouse of a hard working, joy-filled, dedicated man.



Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Not Enough Words

Perhaps not enough words or maybe not the right words, exists to explain what is in my heart and on my mind.



Last Friday, Norine, our landlady and next door neighbor called with very distressing news. She said that she had just received a call from a sheriff in Montana that Dale, her husband, had been missing since two-thirty the day before.



I continued what I was doing in disbelief, hoping that the idea that it was a hoax would be found by her son. But there was a tug on my heart and I thought of the night before when Dirt could not sleep and was up out of bed wandering around most of the night.



We stood helplessly by as we watched Dale's wife and children be tortured with not knowing, wondering where he was, what happened. Saturday my daughter came across the yard with the news. Dale was gone. An ATV accident while hunting in Montana.



Dear reader I cannot express to you how my heart is terribly heavy with selfish desires that this last weekend would disappear from the records of time. I know that Dale was not alone when he fell down into the ravine where they found his body. I know that he is where he longed to be, where those who have faith in the saving grace of Christ Jesus all long to be. So it is my selfishness that desires that Dale would have had more time on earth, with us, his wife, his children, grandchildren, my children, my husband and myself.

It is my selfishness that yearns to hear him shout for his dogs, to ride up to our house on his ATV, to call Dirt away from the house to help him fix a tractor or some electronic gadget, to call and ask for my daughters to work for him. It is my selfishness that begs for people to stay where they are, to not change, to not loose the friends I have, the people in my life.

4 comments:

Connie said...

Oh Lanny, I'm so sorry to hear of the tragic death of your friend and neighbor. He is in a better place. That won't keep you from missing him and wishing he could still be around. Don't be so hard on yourself. The sadness must be unbearable right now. You and your family and the family and friends of Dale will be in my thoughts and prayers. Sending you a cyber hug.

CaroltheRose said...

I got a short and insufficient text from keith on saturday...and when he told me how he died, I cried. I'm not ready to acknowledge that people are going to start disappearing in my life someday. I'm not ready to lose my parents...and I cant even breathe when I think about losing my husband. wish I could give norine a hug...I always liked her alot, and I cant imagine the loneliness that will set in. I'm SURE she will feel her heavenly father with her...I'm certain she is a more mature christian than I..... but even so, she cant help but miss the man she spent her life with. I'm praying for all of you.

KathyB. said...

Hear, hear, Lanny. Dale has left a void and he is someone who made a difference for the better ! We will see him again though...Praise God !

Do you think there are Labrador Retrievers in Heaven...can't picture Dale without a few running circles around him!

Melli said...

Ohhhhh Lanny... how awful. I am so sorry for your friend, her family - and you & yours... what a tragic thing. But he is with the Lord now, and I pray her faith gives her the strength she needs to get through it. It sounds like you all have a pretty good support system up in that neck of the woods, so God bless you all to help each other.