Funeral for a Friend

It was a somber day today. I drove Kory down to Seattle to attend the funeral of Kjell Harjo, his friend who died last Saturday in a roll over car accident. In an instant, everything changed. It’s such a shock to us and sometimes hard to understand, but it says in the Bible that our days are numbered and God knows the day we will die before even one of them comes to be. It’s reassuring to know that when it’s our time to go, we’ll go, but if not, God will send angels to protect us. As Kjell’s wife said during the service, “God takes the ones that are well polished. Apparently the rest of us still need a little more work.” If that’s the case, I might live to be a hundred.

Kjell’s brother-in-law flew in from Norway for the service. He gave a wonderful speech (in Norwegian), while Kjell’s wife translated to English. I felt like I had entered some secret language society as I understood everything he said and both Kory and I cracked up at a couple of funny parts when the rest of the church was silent. When they heard the translation, then they all laughed, but it was a bit awkward that we laughed seemingly prematurely. I also slipped out a few AMENS and HALLELUJAHs before the rest of the audience as he made some good points and I couldn’t wait for the translation to speak my mind. It was so fun to understand what was being said!

I was worried about Kory’s back today, knowing he’d be up and around more than is recommended. He doesn’t seem to realize he can do some damage if he’s not careful, but he wanted to go to the service no matter what. It seems the only time I’ve been to the Philadelphia Church down in Ballard is for funerals. It’s where Kory attended church as a child and young adult. He’s so old now that his friends are all dying off, sadly enough. It was a bit comical today though at the reception afterwards as Kory went to greet so many old friends – they had to coordinate the placement of his crutches with their canes in order to get a hug. It looked both pathetic and hysterical at the same time. (Okay, some of them were the parents of his old friends, but still….)

There were many people at the funeral that have been faithful blog readers of our year in Norway. One friend of Kory’s told me I needed to make a button to give to people who read the blog everyday that says “I read every blog!” or something like that. Others found out about it through friends and told me how much they enjoyed it – so that was fun to hear. Who knew there would be so much interest in our lives in Norway? I guess I should get busy and try to market it as a book. If I ever get settled back into our house and ever clear a path to my desk again, I might just do that. Right now, that feels like it won’t be anytime soon.

I was so missing Norway today when we were stuck on the freeway in Friday night rush traffic. It took over an hour to go about ten miles. We stopped in Shoreline to visit our dear Grammy J (Janet Johnson) at the rehab center she is at recovering from a broken leg. It was the highlight of the day to see her, even though she’s in such a state. But from that place, to our house, it should take 45 minutes to drive home and it took over two hours tonight. I wanted to cry. I was so tired and not happy because sitting in traffic is my number one pet peeve. In Norway, at most, we had traffic “moments” where there would be a few cars lined up waiting to get through a round-about, but there would never be such traffic jams as we experienced today. I guess that would be because there are no freeways that could even compare to I-5, and if all the people in all the cars sitting on that stretch of freeway from Seattle to Mount Vernon were totaled up, it would be a number greater than all the people in all of Norway. Or at least close, I’m sure. So yes, everything IS bigger in America – including the traffic jams. Unfortunately.

Kaleb stayed home alone all day, reading books and blowing his nose. We didn’t want to contaminate anyone and we aren’t sure if he’s going to break out were Chicken Pox anytime soon so we were extra cautious. He was thrilled to have the whole day at home with his “library.” He fell asleep tonight on the couch just before his favorite neighbor dog, Duchess, came over for a visit. Even her licks to his face didn’t wake him. We are slowly entering back into our old routines – get up – drink a cup of coffee – and wonder what this day will bring. It’s good to be alive – aches and pains and all. (See photo of our house!)

We Have Our Boxes!

Big day today – the boxes arrived this morning and we collected them from the warehouse at 9:30 tonight. It helps to know the owner of the shipping company, as Kory was at work all day today, and Kaleb and I were in school – so we had no time to run out and pick them up. The shipper was in a meeting all afternoon so we anxiously awaited his call to say when he could meet us at the warehouse. Kaleb was jumping up and down all over the place, he was so excited to see his stuff again (mostly his stuffed dogs). I am thankful to have a few kitchen things (like a garlic press and potato peeler) but also for the umbrellas I packed as I got caught in a bit of rain yesterday. Kory is thankful for his box of hand tools so he can start tinkering again without having to run here and there borrowing tools from different cousins. Oh, the little things in life make it so sweet sometimes.

Kaleb and I both absolutely loved school again today. Kaleb talks most about recess and all the fun he has there, which is great. His English teacher called me today to introduce herself. She told me, “He’s a clever boy,” and she said he was already well entrenched with the social scene there – kids were waiting for him to be done with her so they could play with him – I love that. He brought home a 4th grade math book – easy stuff for him so he was laughing at what they call “work.” I hope all his schooling is that easy as I’d rather have him concentrate on the language – reading and writing Norske – and the social aspect of being here - rather than anything academic.

I tried to finish up mowing the lawn here (there must be at least a half acre of grassy space – the photo shows about 1/3 of it), but the blisters on my hands from yesterday slowed me down a lot and then it rained so I gave up for today. I can’t wait to see this piece of property once the ground is actually visible. Currently there are rows of raked grass lining the place and everyone that passes by just stares at the difference (where’s our Home Fellowship group when you need them?). One guy came by on his bike last night and asked who to contact about buying up these houses (I guess you can actually see them now that the waist high grass is gone). Kory told him the name of the attorney then he lit into me about wanting to buy them before someone else does. I’m completely against it as it’s taking on a huge risk because we don’t know what the ground will do in the future – how much more it will sink, plus it would mean at least a million dollar loan and I rather enjoy not stressing about making payments to a bank. These houses are high quality – too high I think to have as rentals, but Kory thinks if he rents them out for five years then sells the package deal he could double his money. I disagree as I see it as an opportunity to lose everything we have if somehow the houses start cracking apart. So Kory is beside himself. He thinks we are missing out on some God-given opportunity that could be a huge blessing --and I say I’m the God given blessing by keeping him from buying it.