Land is back. After that horrible leg snapping Land is skating better than ever. At the Grand Nationals for Concrete Rodeo in August at the new Battleground, WA. park, Land placed seventh overall with skaters from all over the nation. At that competition he was selected to compete at the Great Northwest Gromfest in Whistler, BC next July. If you go to
gromfest.org there is a profile of Land. He also has a profile on
bernunlimited.com as he is a team member for Bern Head Protection. He doesn't like me to say too much about his skating (Skate Mom is a derogatory term) but I thought it was fairly significant that psychologically he could come back from such a terrible injury in a relatively short amount of time.
ROW 1: Tamara, Preslee, Kaitie & Mckell blowing bubbles - Mike, Darren, Melanie & Grandma Saundra
Land made this quilt in a class last month. It is colorful, warm and bright. He needs comfort. A family needs comfort. Friends need comfort. Land received a call yesterday that informed him that a friend and classmate that he had just been hanging out with on Friday had died while skiing. It was so sudden. It was so final. It is so sad. He is at the church with hundreds of other acquaintances for a devotional in her memory. It will be a chance for them to talk and start to work out this incredible grief. They all miss Jocie.
I am the fortunate mother of teenagers. My friend's mother told me that when children are young they break your back and when they are old they break your heart. In my case, they haven't broke it, just given it major palpitations. I suppose it is their incredible energy, and sense of themselves, and wanting to carve out their own path in life when I am no longer in total control - of course, I never was.
