Nyals was an innocent "boy", I say, because, as he told me himself a few years ago, "I used to be normal, but I was in a motorcycle accident when I was in high school." He had a serious brain injury that changed his world. He was always a happy, cheerful, smiling face to greet you and walk your cart out to your car for you. His family experienced another tragedy last winter when his older sister was killed in a murder/suicide. This family has faced so much adversity. His step-father was also in the car and will recover, but I can not, nor do I ever hope to, imagine what it would be like.
Quayd was pretty shaken. He called me throughout the day in tears. He worked yesterday afternoon and said that everyone was pretty upset, lots of tears. Nyals was just someone that everyone loved. His smile impacted everyone he came in contact with.
I sit shaking my head. I understand Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation, but I always wonder why each of us are given the "tailor-made" challenges that we face. Again, I shake my head and then bow it in thanks for the understanding that there is more.
Grace had her last performance of the spring show last night. She has been pretty emotional about the end of the season. Apparently, a few girls quit Bella right in the middle and there has been high school girl drama. Grace tries really hard to stay out and avoid the drama, but it was hard on her to see her friends so upset. And then, add to that the end of the season. Lots of tears.
Since Doug, Zee and I were home alone, we decided that we would run to Burger King, of all places, for dinner because we'd watched American Idol on Sunday and every other commercial was the new Burger King Flame Broiled Hot Dog. It was okay...nothing like the commercials...shocker! But, we also made a visit to the Stake YSA Dance. It was loud and fun! The college kids were having a ball! ZJ and I were rocking to the music. That girl has noooooo inhibitions! I really wanted to dance, but that doesn't happen a lot these days. My foot no likee dancing anymore, which is sad because I wanted to embarrass Zee with my 70s moves!
We left the dance in time to pick Quayd up from work and then attended the second half of Grace's final performance. Talk about squeezing it all in! Quayd was pretty shaken up about Nyal's death. He'd had a rough night at work, where there were lots of tears and everyone was talking about the accident. He was in tears several times through Grace's show. I think that death hits teenagers harder than anyone because they feel so invincible at that age and are certain that they'll live forever strong. The shock of the accident on top of the death were just more than he wanted to bear. We talked about Nyals as we drove. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. We talked about the fact that Nyals is now no longer struggling with the physical challenges that he's had since his accident when he was in high school. We talked about him being able to leave the earth with his mother, who has cared for him and that he doesn't ever have to worry about who would take care of him later in life. There was much discussion. And tears.
Doug and I decided that we needed to do something fun to cheer everyone up. SO! Doug didn't turn to head up the hill toward our home. He went straight down main street to Angie's restaurant. The kids have never been to Angie's. It's not a place that we eat out at often, other than for breakfast with Carol or Denise. So, they'd never heard of "Cleaning the Sink". They'd only seen the bumper stickers but didn't know that they were for. When the gal brought out the "Sink", their eyes were huge! HUGE! And they were thrilled! We sat there until 10PM watching Quayd polish off the whole thing, minus a few bites from the girls. They laughed and teased about it. It was a hoot!
1
Angie's
does it HUGE! Look at the size of Doug's banana split! And look at
him... he looks like a man with a bug that should be in bed at home.
He's missed two days of work even. Not cool.
They were so excited!
See the small bowls under the sink. Grace and Zee ate that much. Quayd, on the other hand...
He saw a new challenge!
He was so proud to "earn" the bumper sticker!
Talk about "sugar shock"!!! When we walked out to the car, Quayd said, "I'm colllllllld!" and his teeth chattered the entire way home. We laughed so hard. It was just what we needed. There was much teasing and some serious belching. Oh my. The kids were so buzzed! But, thankfully, they were all so emotionally spent that everyone went straight to bed and were out within minutes of showers.
Sometimes, you just need a good laugh. That's what we needed. It was late before we got to bed and everyone has been fighting this bug all week, but it was worth being together and making a fun memory. Life is good!
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