Last Saturday, July 14, 2012, 15 hikers and 4 horseback riders gathered at Gus' chosen hillside to honor his last request . . . spreading his ashes.
Those that were there included Scott, April, Lindsey, T.J., Grayson, Lane, Dr. John Madany, Neil and Gloria Barnosky, Dennis Fettig, Chuck and Jan Bowey, Chris and Dave Schultz, Ron Leafgreen, Brian Redfield, Billie Taylor, Derrick Miller, and myself.
Scott picked the date and organized the day. It was a cool, overcast day just perfect for hiking. He and April had gone in the week-end before just to check everything out and make sure we could do it.
Brian Redfield was in Afghanistan when Gus passed away. Brian was suppose to be on guard duty this week-end, but he was admitted into our local hospital with severe dehydration instead. Brian was released Friday night at 8:00 after spending four days on IV's. He joined us 11 hours later to say his good-bye to Gus.
Ron Leafgreen lives in Okinawa, Japan. It was not easy for him to join us, but he also was out of the country when Gus passed away.
The last summer Gus was alive, he had taken his family on horseback to this spot. Without Scott and Dennis, I would never had found the right hillside.
(Double click on the photos so you can view the entire picture)
Just starting the hike
L to R: Jan, Chris, April, Dave and Scott
Horseback Riders, front to back: Derrick, Lane, Billie, and Lindsey
Hikers: T.J. and Grayson
L to R: Dave, Dr. John, Dennis, Gloria, Neil, Brian
This picture is taken at the official hunting camp site. Gus never missed one time in 27 years of being with his friends to hunt. He had to be a little creative a few times considering his son was in football and some years the guys could not get into this spot due to weather. Oh, and did I mention my due date for our daughter's birth was opening day of hunting season in 1984. The majority of years, Lindsey's birthday was celebrated the following Saturday when her dad came home.
Lane and his horse, Shantie. He rode 9 miles in to get to where the riders camped, 6 miles the day of spreading the ashes and then 9 miles back out on Sunday when the riders came home. He loved every minute because of who he was with.
The trail from the camping site to our destination
L to R: Dr. John, Dave, T.J., Gloria, Jan, April, Neil, Chuck
This is the hillside which was much steeper than the picture shows
Scott packed this urn with the ashes to the site
Scott talking about his dad and what this hillside meant to Gus and why Gus chose this spot. Scott so honored his dad with his beautiful words. Each person was given the opportunity to actively spread some ashes and say goodbye to Gus. When everyone was through, Scott buried what was left at the base of the tree directly behind him.
The photographer, Ron, had a sense of humor. He felt the day was officially over when Scott was headed home and all that was visible was Scott's backside. Three people were packing guns that day in case we met a predator.
The mountain in the background and in the center of the picture is called "The Hogback". Just to the right of that is the "Notch" and that is where we were hiking. This picture was taken on our way home just before the rain started.
Memories can never be taken away when loved ones are. At the time of Gus' Memorial Service on April 23, 2011, there had been 14,464 pageviews of this blog. There is now more than 16,521 pageviews from all over the world.
Gus So Blessed All Of Our Lives.
