On Labor Day we took a quick trip to Hailey, Idaho to visit Dan Freeman and his family. Dan is fighting stage 4 melanoma cancer. His family owns an organic farm that they haven't been able to maintain this summer due to his illness. Our intention was to spend the day working on the farm, but we ended up doing more visiting than working. The Varvel family put together a memory jar for Dan, so we sat in the house and went through all the memories together. We laughed and cried and reminisced about the good old days. When Dan would need to rest, we'd go out and work on the farm. We got a few rows taken care of, but I wish we had more time to work. It was a heart wrenching and great visit all at the same time. A visit we will always cherish. We learned a lot in the short time we were there. We learned that bad things happen to great people. We learned about unconditional love from Dan's family. We learned to value our family and close friends. We learned that life is fragile, and to never take it for granted. We learned to treasure life's great moments, no matter how big or small they are. Mostly, we learned that Dan and his family are fighters, that are handling this situation with incredible strength and grace. Bailey has only interacted with Dan a couple times over the years, and both experiences (in health and sickness) have been life changing for her. Thank you Dan for the influence you've had on my family! Keep on fighting the fight!
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| Bailey and Richard working on the farm! |
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| Weeding the rows between the vegetables. |
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| She was a great helper! |
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| We had a great visit! It was so good to see everyone! |
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