I wanted to take a few moments this  thanksgiving morning and express my sincere thankfulness to our friends and relatives who have shown such amazing support.  There are few moments in ones life where we are able to see the sum of support that surrounds us.  It has been an affirmation of the life that Cassandra and I have tried to live.  Thank you so much.

A year ago we planned to have thanksgiving with Cassandra’s Gramma in Cousins NM.(understandably the concept of thanksgiving is a delicate one in Indian Country)  Gramma lives deep in the southern portion of the Navajo Reservation.  She speaks no English and lives a simple life.  The family had organized the dinner and we were to bring a side dish.  As we prepared to leave late wed. evening in a blizzard we received a call and due to the weather several family members were unable to make it.  Unfortunately they were responsible for the turkey and other key components of the meal.  Cas and I were ready to pick up the slack but found that everything in Gallup was closed for the holidays(even Wal Mart).  The only store open at 9:00 p.m. was a mustang gas station which also carried a few staples(only in Navajo land can you buy 20 lb. bags of potatoes and 50lb. sacks of flour at a convenience store.)  So armed with every edible option we could find we  drove through the storm and down the precarious dirt roads to grammas house.  We proceeded to have one of the best thanksgiving meals ever.  Spam and potatoes, frybread,  eggs and bacon and pancakes.

I will miss my beautiful wife and her spirit of determination so much.  Love, respect and thankfulness to all of you.

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As we get ready for the funeral tomorrow, and (hopefully) to welcome Amada back to Durango next week, it’s important to be thankful that these three beautiful children are still with us, and keep our thoughts and prayers with Noah and Dante as they go down their long, hard paths to recovery. We’re currently exploring all possible options to help Noah’s spinal cord recover, and he may have one or more long-distance moves coming up in the next few months, so he will need all the love and prayers you can send his way.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/11/19/Fort_Lewis_graduate_activist_dies_in_collision/

It still just feels like this is a bad dream.