John and I met at Cheddars Restaurant where we both worked.  I was 18 and he was 23 when we began dating.  We dated throughout college and then got married in 1991.  Through our 30-year marriage we grew together as people, as Christians and as parents.  We have 2 beautiful teenage daughters who bring us much joy (and some headache too😉).  As an active family we have rappelled in Utah, hiked in Arizona, gone dog sledding and river rafting in Colorado, gone snow skiing in New Mexico, whale watched in Iceland, surfed in Dominican Republic, golfed in North Carolina, gone water skiing in Texas and zip-lined in Canada.  We like to play and be adventurous outside!  John and I loved to play pickleball and mountain bike together.

One Sunday we went out mountain biking.  We were safety conscious riders and had gloves, knee pads, elbow pads and helmets on.  The weather was glorious, and we were having a fun time on the trail building our skills, bodies and relationship all at the same time.  Right in the middle of a simply fantastic day, our whole life changed.  John was riding on a small ramp when his front tire went off the ramp sending him and his bicycle in a forward flip.  He hit his face on the hard, packed trail and snapped his neck backward, breaking his spine.  I observed the whole horrific crash and rendered aid as much as I could and called 911.  John was rushed to the hospital, and over the next 7 weeks his condition steadily declined until he passed on May 14.

John was a faithful servant of God and, though his death was tragic and unexpected, I know his eternal salvation is secure and that he is in heaven.  I know that we will be reunited again when my time on earth has come to an end, and this brings me much peace and joy.  However, in the meantime, our daughters and I must live with a gigantic hole in our lives.

God has blessed us with an amazing support system and provided for us in unexpected ways.  I am confident that He has a wonderful future for us.  Not the future that I had planned or expected, but a great one none the less.

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”   Jeremiah 29:11