throwback thursday: posts from picky's archives... with a little something new thrown in

so i know i've talked a lot about my great uncle and the monastery at which he had resided for some sixty years. it closes in about two weeks. he is ninety years old. he is not doing well. my parents have property in colorado. they drove up there this past weekend, and then drove to utah to see him, to get him situated in an assisted living facility.

this isn't how i wanted it to be for him. for them. he is the last of my grandmother's siblings to leave us. i wanted just one of those remarkable, charismatic people to go peacefully, and of the eight of them, he is most deserving of that. he's spent his life serving god, serving others. and now his heart is failing him. i'm not ready for this chapter of my life to end just yet. i'm not ready for him to go.

i was reading posts by others who are celebrating their blogiversaries. it made me want to dig into my archives a bit. the oldest post i've kept is from june sixteenth. nine years ago.

taken near holy trinity abbey in huntsville, utah

i took this photo a long, long time ago during one of my family's winter visits with my great uncle. i was riding in the passenger seat, running errands with a relative. i snapped this shot of a box elder tree on a ranch as we made our way toward huntsville from the abbey. there were cattle under that tree, but the snow was so deep you could barely see them. i call it reach. i wish i could reach into heaven and hug the greats one more time. i wish they were here. i wish that his passing would come more quickly, more easily. he's hurting, and we're all helpless to stop it.