Just over 5 months ago we experienced a horrendous storm here on the east coast. Something called a "derecho". Somthing I have never heard of it. It was terrifying at the start. Lightening which seemed like a strobe light, but no thunder. Winds like I have never seen. Apparently the definition of a derecho is that the winds although higher than a tornado are straight winds, they just go in a straight line shearing all in it's way. They are very sudden and unpredictable. After huddling with my daughter for several minutes listening to the wind and watching the lightening (It was after midnight, we had both been sleeping but woke up - my son slept through the whole thing) we heard several crashes, followed a very significant shaking of our home. We got out of my bed to investigate and while standing in the living room to try to figure out what was going on a large oak tree crashed through our roof and right through the ceiling leaving a 6 foot limb hanging less than a foot from where we were standing. We woke my son, were evacuated by the police (were not sure the roof wouldn't collapse). When we returned the following morning we found our cars covered by 2 of the neighbors trees. Two trees through our second floor roof (we think the inital shaking we felt), our chimney down, our basketball court in ruins, our fences ruined and of course the big tree through the front of the house.
We had about a week to remove all of our belongs that could be saved and store them in a POD left sitting for months in our driveway. Thanks to many incredible friends we got the job done swiftly and smoothly. Much was ruined and we filled 4 dumpsters.
Fast forward to this week. We moved home. Our renovated home is beautiful. But now I have the task of unloading all the boxes and finding places for all the contents. A daunting task in itself. Five months after the storm and 4 1/2 years after Dave died I am finding things of his I have previously not had the ability to look at. In one box I found his application for "Teacher of the Year" which he was awarded just a month before his death. The majority of the papers were the forms filled out by his principal, other teachers etc. But there is also a form he filled out. As Teacher of the Year for his school he had to apply as County teacher of the year (which he did not receive). Part of the application was "Community Involvement". He describes his work in the community, coaching, volunteering and his work at church.
The last paragraph hit me like a huge wave. I bawled like a baby for a good 30 minutes.
"I am fortunate that my wife is very committed to community causes. she has helped instill this awareness and involvement in our children, who are routinely involved in fundraising activities. My one daughter has served as a volunteer at Field of Dreams, a baseball program for children with disabilities. My son has raised over $3000 for childhood cancer through the St. Baldrick's program. I am very proud of them and hope we have created a legacy of giving back to the community.
The bolded words are what hit me. And what caused me to be hit with a wave of I am not sure what. Even before his death Dave was hoping our family would be giving back. Not knowing any of this our friends came forward and developed "Dave's Day" ,where we give to our school and church. Not knowing this our friends and community have supported us for the past 4 years and are now planning year 5. It affirmed for me that we have chosen exactly what Dave wanted. A humble man he would not necessarily by happy that the day is named FOR him. But I know now deep in my heart that we are doing JUST what he wanted and although it was not a spoken wish, or not spoken between us, just written on this "form" he had to fill out, I feel that we are indeed fulfilling his "last wish" so to speak.
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