Today is the day before we celebrate with family and friends our mother’s life and mourn her death. This quintessential morning walk evoked so many memories of my parents, driving cross-country from Vermont for a job opportunity in this corner of southeastern Washington, so far from family and the familiarity of the East Coast. This community became their home as they made it ours, the rolling wheat fields, the huge sycamore trees, Pioneer Park, our tiny cabin at Kooskooskie. My father’s lessons, humility and warmth are forever tied with this place. My mother’s curiosity, community involvement and independence came to life here.
This weekend, our children will see a small slice of what this place meant to us five children. I hope my parents, their grandparents,’ integrity, constancy and spirit will bloom for them as they did for us in this valley.[Photo from Marcus Whitman Hotel looking east toward Blue Mountains.]