A Wednesday in the Woods and Beach

Well, it was a good day, but we are heavy in our hearts with the amount of life (and death) decisions we have to make. Yesterday the medical community that Dennis has been working with gave him a year or less to live. They also asked us to make some decisions about how to proceed, and asked us to examine what was most important to us. Everyone who has considered the quality of their life usually does not have to balance it with the quantity of their life except at the end of life. So that is what we are trying to do, and Dennis will be making some hard decisions shortly.

These are concepts that are hard to put your arms around. Intellectually we can, emotionally we cannot fathom them. We drove to the Pacific Coast for clarity today, on the southern edge of the Olympic Peninsula. We stopped in at a Forest Service Office (imagine that)-then a small interpretive center run by a private group of friends of the Comunity of Ocean Shores (huh, funny about that too) then out to the beach in the cold wind and tried to take pictures in the 30 knots!! The community reminded me of reading "The Outermost House" about the east coast. Later in the afternoon we drove on to the Quinault Indian Lands north of Ocean Shores. Dennis drove all 325 miles and we got back to Seattle after 8 pm. Many times that day we tried to put our arms around the time we have left. Thanks to all of you that called today, and to those that wrote Dennis on the campfire-he logged in as soon as we got back to the hotel and was gratified at the responses. Thanks to Steve Daniels for helping with this.

We talked about having fun and trying to fit in all the experiences we could together, including
going to New England to see fall color, Acadia, my grandfather's grave, and for Dennis to hunt in the three states he has left: Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. We plan to do that this September before he goes deer hunting in Montana and South Dakota. Then there is the trip to New Zealand and Australia to hunt targ. This is a little further out there, in May of 2012. We are hoping to reach that goal. In between there is a trip home to Missouri to visit his mom on this mother's day (the next trip), and to his youngest daughter Heathers graduation from Graduate school, (a trip in June), our anniversary, and a few birthdays....sigh.....

So this brings us to your comments about donations. Dennis is thinking of starting a fund as part of his donation account-I think in his name -with the Friends of the Ketchikan NRA for teaching girls and women hunter education safety, and the shooting sports. Dennis has been an advocate for women appreciating and learning about hunting and shooting his whole life. Any extra donations might go there, and can still be sent to the Dennis Neill donation account at Tongass Federal Credit Union in Ketchikan. Or you may wish to designate it for the carving of his memorial, which has a deer hunter and deer on it. He wishes to be buried in Missouri in bucolic cemetary in the country near where he was born. In any event, stay tuned as these ideas form more fully.

Now to the present. Faith has requested a transfer of work, and that may allow a move to Montana in the near future. This move means that Dennis will be closer to his girls, his mom, and to his hunting areas that he loves. It means lots of change in the Neill and Duncan house-stay tuned for further updates. We are flying home tomorrow-and looking forward to a return to our normal Alaskan life-with a challenging future ahead! Onward....Dennis and Faith