Bruce's Memorial

First thing, one of the people in my life that I've always admired and believed was one of the bravest people in the world was my cousin Bruce. He was quite a bit older than me and lived a good distance away so I didn't spend a lot of time around him, but he taught me more than most people I know. Bruce had Cerebral Palsy and could not walk without the use of crutches and he never let that affect his quality of life. He taught me that we can't ever judge a person as inept just because they have a disability and that you can do most anything you want with pure determination. Sadly, Bruce passed away recently and we gathered in his hometown in Illinois and celebrated his life with the family.

As with most funerals, you get some good out of the experience. In this case it was spending some quality time with my family. My sister flew in from Denver with her son, my other sister and her family attended, as well as my siblings still at home with Mom and Dad (yes there are a lot of us). After a long drive on Friday, we spent the day on Saturday playing. We splashed in the pool in the morning, attended the terrific memorial service, and then headed to my cousin Stephenie's house and played the rest of the day away. Stephenie and Jason have some farm animals that Lily and Greysen liked to terrorize, it was one of the first times the two kids got to actually play together.

There was also a zip line there and that gave us all kinds of entertainment. All of the kids gave it a go and the babies in particular loved it, check out the looks of joy on both Lily and Greysen's faces as they held on for dear life.


Although, my sister Paola, looked like she didn't quite trust me when it was her turn to take the ride.

It was a fantastic trip and I'm so glad we made that long drive to Illinois.