From Sea to Land: Rhiannon Remembered

The Borisoff's Broken Heart by Lone Pine Tree

This weekend had more packed into it than even I could imagine and I tend to fill up my weekends really well. I will attempt a coherent post, but even now I am overwhelmed by yesterday's emotions.

Every year, on or around May 7th, I write a post reflecting on Rhiannon. My heart still hurts and I am also stricken by guilt for not taking as good of care of Rhiannon's parents as she would have done for mine. They are wonderful people who lost their only child and we are their only link now. I'm trying to do better.

Yesterday, a couple of the girls and I picked up Rhiannon's mom, Lynn, to hike up to Lone Pine where she and Mike had set a broken, heart shaped rock in the ground, along with a time capsule of Rhiannon's mementos. Mike, Rhi's dad, had always wanted to take Rhiannon up there but it never worked out, so when they serendipitously found the rock they knew that was where it needed to go.

It is a hard climb up a steep hill with no path. There is a lot of sage brush, prairie dog holes, and rabbit brush. We had to take a few breaks, but with every step the tree came a little closer. The view from the top, mixed with the emotions of Rhiannon having  "a place" made it worth it. For the first time I feel like I can really grieve. This is both scary and relieving.

Lynn said this may be her last trip to the tree. Now that we know where it is, we will continue to visit it and keep remembering.

The tree complete with eagle's nest