They say "Love is more precious than gold"
Can't be bought and it can't be sold
I got love enough to spare
That makes me a millionaire
-Chris Stapleton
This Chris Stapleton song was one of my cousin TC’s favorites and has become one of mine. While most of the song “Millionaire” is about Chris Stapleton’s wife, this first stanza is fitting for this post because we wanted to send out a huge thank you to all of the family and friends who have reached out since my stepmom, Sue, passed in early March 2024. We cannot tell you how grateful we are for the outpouring of love that we’ve received.
If you’ve been following the blog, then you may already know what a trailblazer Sue was! I could go on and on about her accomplishments, how lucky we were to have her our lives and how she was one of those people that just “showed up to life” / always there when she was needed. Instead there’s link below to her obituary and a few photos of here in the theater and with my dad.
Obituary linked here https://www.monarchsociety.com/obituary/susan-long
Since her daughter, Kaytee, knew that Sue had a lot of friends that didn’t live close, we didn’t have the service until May 16th . Despite leaving our Arizona apartment on the last day of March with plans to return my brother’s car to Montana and then head to Alaska, we decided to stay in the lower 48 until the service. In addition the loss of Sue left us with gratitude, but also profound heartbreak. It also reminded us of the importance in telling those we love that we love them, as often as we can.
For all these reasons, we planned a circuitous route that would take us past many of our family members, some friends, and a few scenic spots along the way. We kicked off the trip with a quick goodbye to Doug’s son, daughter-in-law and two adorable granddaughters, followed by the Grabowskis and a final fun night of train dominos and wine!
As we headed for the Denver suburbs, we stopped in the town of Durango. Then we ate a burger and some ice cream at K’s in Buena Vista and arrange to meet Carol Davis in my hometown of Fairplay, CO. Carol was the curator at the South Park City Museum there in Fairplay for years and during high school, I worked for Carol. She was the first woman, besides my mom, who made me think I could really make something of myself. She was a really important role model for me and I hadn’t seen her in years. Having lost her husband within the last year, I wanted to offer my condolences in person.
Next stop was to spend some time with my dad, with Kaytee, Kaytee’s husband Noah, his mom, and cousin Gareth. Although emotions over our loss was still raw, since Gareth was performing in a comedy, we knew that being together and having a good laugh was good medicine.
Doug and I also met up with some cousins on the Miller side of my family and picked up a few family treasures to be delivered north!
We left Colorado and headed for Douglas, WY (home of the original jackalope). We stopped at a canyon on the Powder River, and then made our way to Cody, WY to drop off the Miller treasures and enjoy some time with my dad, Tom and his wife Cindy.
In Billings, MT, we thanked my brother, who loaned us his car for the entire winter in Arizona, and we spent time with him, my mom, her dance friends, my grandmother, uncle, cousin Rachel and her husband. My sister even flew in for a few days and managed to arrange for free tickets to a Daughtry / Breaking Benjamin concert as she and Kyle knew the bassist who comped us tix!
By May 1st, we’d left the car behind and were back in the RV full time. We walked around the quaint, hillside town of Wallace, ID before heading for our next stop, Spokane, WA.
We hadn’t been through Spokane for a few years and when we were there last it was a honk and a wave. This was almost as quick, but at least we had an overnight stay that allowed us to have dinner with Doug’s cousins, Dale, Rustin and their wives. It was absolutely delightful! We also picked up some Bruttles (soft peanut better) that’s heaven on earth!
From Spokane we angled down past Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint before a visit with Doug’s Daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter near Bend, OR.
We had only volunteered to babysit for a few days and boy, was it challenging. Little kids are a lot of work. Total respect for all the moms, dads, and caregivers out there who are currently handling this or who dealt with this in the past! It’s a labor of love and we do love that little cutie!
We kept it rolling and dropped by Crater Lake before descending upon Doug’s dad, mom, brother Gary, sister-in-law, Becky, and Becky’s mom Lodi in Central Point, OR. We spent a lovely mother’s day there! It was great to be surrounded by family.
Our generous friends, the Lisacs, allowed us to park our RV in their driveway in Portland and leave our dog in their care while we flew from Portland back to Colorado for the funeral service / celebration of life.
The service was lovely and well attended. Having been a singer and actress her whole life a lot of her friends were also dramatic. Their stories about Sue were heartfelt, funny, poignant, and were a great tribute to her. The choir she sang with at her church and friends who were professional musicians performed. It was one of the nicest services I’ve been to.
In a quick turn-around we flew back to Portland, I took a down day and then we spent time with the Lisacs, their children and grandchildren, all of whom we absolutely adore. They always make us smile.
From Portland, we made a pit stop in Steilacoom, WA to spend a couple of days with the Sherves, who had also kindly offered to take care of Bailey when we flew to Colorado. While there, I pampered myself with Patty at the nail salon and we enjoyed good discussions and the beautiful scenery from their living room and deck!
Final US stop? Bellingham, WA to see my good friend Carol and her new husband, David. A few lovely meals, a nice walk in Whatcom Falls Park, and time spent looking at her view of Lake Whatcom brought our friend and family tour to an end.
We didn’t get to see all of you and were particularly disappointed that we couldn’t get down to California, but it doesn’t mean we love you any less. We intended to follow stepmom Sue’s advice, who noted in part of a text exchange I had with her the day she passed, “Boldly enjoy the new adventures ahead in Alaska and we will be looking forward to all you share with us.”
You’re texts, calls, heartfelt messages, and the opening of your heart and your homes to us over the last few months have meant the world to us and we have certainly felt that we have love enough to share, making us millionaires.
Thank you so much!
