Bittersweet walking sticks

On our way up to skyline drive this weekend for some hiking and a cook out my husband and I got into a talk about how there are things in this world beyond that which we can explain or see.


The hiking with the kids was a great success, the cook out not so much (but that is a story of spit up hot dogs and screaming babies for another day). On our hike we took the kids on a trail that was handicap accessible and thus a good fit for out stroller bound family. The twins were disappointed that we had forgotten their walking sticks (a recent acquisition from another trip up the mountain), but in the midst of the million other things we would need for our cook out and a potentially cold evening on the mountains they got left behind. My husband went looking for good walking sticks for them among the fallen branches and he and twins went swinging their sticks down the lane with Jordy in tow and me bringing up the rear with the stroller. We had great fun and for the twins the highlight of our walk was ….the park benches; not the deer, or the birds, or the beautiful scenery, no, not for our kids, for out kids it was the park benches. Oh well at least they had fun.

After our hike my husband and I stopped at a place that is very special to us. It is at an overlook called Timber Hollow and visits there are always bitter sweet. On March 28, 2004 I miscarried a baby. For reasons that are too long to go into we chose Timber Hollow as the site to make a small memorial for our lost baby, who we named Joshua. Our memorial was nestled into some brush at the base of a tree just above an outcropping of rocks that overlooked the beautiful valley below. When ever we come up to skyline drive we always stop and “visit” Joshua and it is always a bittersweet stop. My husband and I have talked about how we can almost see Joshua playing on the rocks and we reflect on how our family might be different if this baby had been born.

This most recent visit was no different but with a surprise. When we walked down the steps we saw a stick (just like the ones the twins had been using) tucking into the tree. I have no way of knowing how that stick got there and there could be a very logical explanation, but then again I believe there are things beyond that which we can see or explain.