Its spring?!! Where the heck did Winter go? I think it lasted for like 2 days? Then it was clear skies and sunny 75 degree weather! It was pretty great. Only bummer is the lack of snowboarding on my part. I only got to go one time. Totally stinks. Anyways the end of February and beginning of March were consumed with weddings. I was thinking about it the other day, I already am in a lot of weddings or just go to them because there are so many people getting married but NOW that I do video... I seriously go to weddings non stop! I am excited for this summer to have a break from all the chaos and spend time in the water and sun! :) Whitney finally sealed the deal with Jon on the 7th and she looked amazing and it was another eventful day!
That night I was about done and was feeling awfully sick. I went to bed and woke up around 6am with uncontrollably shaking. First thing I thought of was oh no, how in the heck am I going to be able to do the wedding today for the Hercules'. I can't cancel, it's their WEDDING day, it only happens once. I began getting a little panicked and thinking of other options because I felt so sick and knew I wouldn't last to video all day and night. I called mom for the rescue and asked what I needed to do and she said to come take a hot bath with Epson salt and lavender and other essential oil stuff. I chilled in the tub for like 45 minutes fearing to get out and begin shaking again. Then she loaded me up on some drugs and essential oils and I took a nap again and thank goodness I felt a little better, enough to at least do the video. The Hercules were such a fun couple to video and they were so kind a caring about me not feeling good and making sure I was okay. Its great when the couples are nice and appreciative. So I went home and took another nap so I could survive the reception and my favorite part of the reception was they had a Hercules and Meg wedding cake top! The groom's last name is Hercules and the bride's name is Megan so it was perfect!! Then Megan and her bridesmaids did a surprise dance and turned on the song "Won't Say I'm In Love" and Megan lip-synced and danced for Joey while the bridesmaids were "back-up" dancers. It was pretty dang cute. As happy as I was to video that night for them I was more than ready to go home at the end of the night and crash for 12 hours. Next wedding in line was my good friend MJ Roberts and Tayzia! Their reception was beautiful and full of great food and fun! They had a surprise dance as well that they broke out in during their first dance and it was to no surprise that they did that because that is totally them! Anyways very happy for them and that they are finally together after a long 2 years of long distance dating. This week was spring break week and it was my first time ever not having a spring break!! Gah I don't know if I can get used to that. I definitely miss the flexibility of being in school and getting all the breaks. But such is adult life.
Friday the 14th was Nate's birthday and Megynn had Neela and I set up a dinner for them on the top of the terminal 4 parking garage at Sky Harbor because she was taking him to "Fiji". It was soooo cool being up there watching the sunset and planes take off! If it didn't cost $4 an hour to park I could spend all night up there! Megynn and Nate arrived and we didn't think they saw the table cause Nate stopped them before they got to it and Neela and I kept driving by them trying to get her attention to show her where the table and food was! She obviously saw it but was not acknowledging to us that she did. So we were caught and ruined the surprise... but oh well! Then Neela and I chilled until we had to go to Aloha Fro Yo where other family and friends were to surprise Nate at his last destination to Fiji! He was surprised and it was a good time celebrating his birthday on pie day!
Saturday March 15th was a very sad day for us all and something I never want to re-live again. It started off great and I was excited that I didn't have any weddings or obligations to do so I could clean and get caught up on stuff at the house and edit videos. It was around 11:00am when my mom yelled from downstairs, "Trellany I need you NOW!" I just finished cleaning and thought nothing of it but I did think it was a little weird she said NOW because usually when she calls me to do something it isn't ever that urgent. I then got to the top of the stairs and see her at the bottom, with the phone to her ear, she seemed caught off guard and out of breath and managed to get out, "CJ, they think he drowned in the canal" she said we need to go get your dad and go over there now." At first I really didn't believe it, I was in denial and just thought oh they will find him, and he will be fine. I couldn't bring myself to believe that he actually drowned. It just didn't seem right or possible. I put some shoes on and waited for my mom to get ready and we rushed over to the stake center to get my dad and that's when the tears started coming. That's when it hit me that yes this indeed was happening. My mom and I rushed into the stake center crying and found my dad and he had a panicked look on his face as he saw my mom and I in tears. My mom managed to spit out CJ, they think he has drowned. My dad immediately began to cry and we rushed out of there to head to the scene. When we got there, there was so many people already there helping out and comforting the family. When I saw the panic in everyone and the police I really began to cry as I knew this was the real deal and CJ indeed had drowned. It was so hard to keep it together as we all were so distraught by the tragedy that had taken place. I began to felt useless as I just waited around until told what to do. I then had the thought of go inside and clean the house to stay busy and keep your mind distracted. So I went in there and Leslie was already cleaning the kitchen so I jumped right in with her and cleaned for about an hour. Then we had to make the dreaded call to Trennon to tell him of the news. He was pretty distraught as this was his 5th death he has had to deal with while serving his mission. It was really good to talk to him though and he gave us some words of encouragement and scriptures to read. I then finished up some sweeping and we got the news that CJ's body was retrieved from the canal. That opened up a whole new set of emotions for everyone and the flood gates opened as we all now had the confirmation that what we were hoping for wasn't true, indeed did happen. We all went back up onto the canal bank to comfort Dwight and Jori and grieve together. My dad pointed out to me where CJ's little bum and legs scooted their way into the canal to save his dog, and then also his finger marks on the moss where he probably tried to get out in 4 different locations. That was very hard to see, just picturing him struggling to get out and feeling helpless and slowly slipping under. Once Jori & Dwight were done seeing CJ in the ambulance we went ahead with giving Jori, Dwight, Ben, & Josh priesthood blessings. What a powerful experience that was have a room full of LDS & non LDS people all coming together to offer up prayers and comfort to our family during this tragic time. The spirit was incredibly strong that afternoon as we could all feel the prayers and comfort from our Lord. After much talking and laughing and more crying my family and I finally left around 8:00 that night. When we got home I was exhausted from crying my head hurt so bad and my eyes were burning. I thought I was done crying and pleaded with HF to please help me calm down and get through this night. But sure enough as I lay in bed reminiscing on the valentine dance I threw for CJ and the Down Syndrome community a month earlier, the tears began to pour out as I couldn't be more grateful for Heavenly Father providing this opportunity for me to have my last dance with CJ here in this life. It was truly a night to remember that I will always cherish along with our many other dance parties. So moving forward in the week, I offered to do the picture slideshow of his life, and boy that was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I found myself crying uncontrollably every time I had to work on the video. Seeing pictures of him as a little baby were the hardest. But as time went on and you could see all the crazy adventures Jori had him involved in, it was so comforting to know he lived a FULL life. He did more things than any 11 year old could possibly of dreamed of. He is such a great example to everyone he touched and truly was a joy to have around. All week long I was dreading for Saturday to come, as I hate funerals. Saturday morning we get there at 8:40am for a flag ceremony that his troops helped raise and lower the flag. Then it was time for me to go see his body since I wasn't able to Friday night. I really did not want to do this because I knew I would have a hard time seeing him. But my parents said I needed too and pushed me over there; when I saw him I really felt like I was looking at an angel. He was all dressed in white, his hair was white and perfectly done, and he had his Thomas S. Monson necklace award around his neck. He looked so peaceful and perfect like he is and almost like the Down Syndrome features weren't there. He also looked so old. Jori said when she first saw him after they made him pretty she said, "CJ YOU'RE 18?" He looked like a little missionary getting ready to go out into the field, but his mission call was a little different and he is doing something far greater in Heaven. A few people then told some funny stories of CJ and shortly after the casket was closed. We entered the chapel and when I saw the amount of people there I was overwhelmed with the love that everyone had for him and amazed at the turn out. I think the total count I heard was 1100 people... yeah CJ was kind of big deal to everyone. Jori and Dwight and Josh all did a great job speaking and kept it together so well, more than I could probably ever do. The musical numbers were powerful and it really was an uplifting and positive funeral just like Jori wanted it to be. To Celebrate and Honor his life.
After the services the whole family took a bus to the graveyard for the dedication of the grave. His casket was perfect with his basketball jersey on the front and basketball on top. At the end they had all the little kids let go of balloons in his honor and we all said "Do your Best" as they floated away.
Saying goodbye was hard but we all know he is much happier now, free of his disability, and is serving a much greater purpose up above. Heavenly Father blessed us with his presence for a short 11 years but boy were those some of the best 11 years any of us could of asked for. We were all touched by his love for every single human being he came in contact with, and because of him we have been changed for good. I know I will strive to be more in tune with the spirit like he was and to freely express my love for the gospel like he did. We will all strive to emulate the light of Christ as he did and serve those around us. He truly was an amazing & gifted child and I am so lucky I get to call him my cousin.
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