Remembering Chris

On the afternoon of August 24, Chris Schillinger passed into eternity. Chris was my daughter, Elizabeth's fiancé, and the love of her life.

He had been sick for about a week, and seemed to be getting a little better, when he woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. He was rushed to the hospital but they were unable to help him and he passed away the following afternoon from emphysema, complicated by a viral infection. He was fifty.

Chris is the quiet guy in the background
sitting next to Liz and manning the grill.  
(Mark in the front, my son Josh and
his wife Nicole to the right)

Chris was the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. He loved camping and target shooting, and guns in general. He loved trucks, especially his truck, and dragons (the house was filled with his very large collection), and the Minions. And he loved cooking steaks and just about anything else outside on the grill. He was the guy who grilled your steak at the Outback Steakhouse in Spokane Valley, and he knew his stuff. He was kind hearted and quiet spoken, and always willing to help if he could.

I regret I didn't have more time to get to know Chris. We visited Liz and the girls once a year in the summer, and during much of our time there Chris was working. We had a few visits with him this past June while we were there and enjoyed the short time we had.

When Liz told me the news, I felt I needed to be with her. So I got in the car and made the long trip back to Spokane, leaving Mark with the RV. It was a tough trip but a necessary one. I wasn't sure how long I would need to be there, but Liz is a tough cookie-- strong and resilient. Once I knew she would be okay, I headed home again. 

We will all miss Chris, but Liz will miss him most of all. They were together five years, and his passing left a giant hole in her heart that will take a long time to heal. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 

Rest in peace, Chris Schillinger.

2021 Minnesota Visit

Chester Woods Campground near Rochester

Wow! Time sure does fly... when you're having fun, and even when you're not. And we've been having a bit of both over the past month and a half.

We started off our stay in Minnesota celebrating my brother's birthday at Red Lobster, a favorite of his. George (also Mark) turned 70 this year-- a point of celebration to be sure.

George, with his grandson Owen to the left

We spent most of the month hanging out with family and friends. George and Bev took us to two local car shows. Of course I forgot to take along my camera, but managed to obtain a couple borrowed pictures from those who didn't forget.

George's car is the '39 "creamsicle" on the right.

Yes, it's the Ghost-buster car.

The Batmobile showed up too.

We have two weddings in the family this year-- one was toward the end of August and the other toward the end of October. Both weddings are Maegan's boys (Mark's grandsons), Arick the older and Riley the younger.

The August wedding was for Arick and his bride Kaitlin. I wasn't able to attend, for reasons I'll explain later, but it was a beautiful wedding and Mark had a wonderful time. I regret that I have no pictures for this event due to the fact that I wasn't there to take them. But this one captures the moment...

Kaitlin & Arick wedding

Mark's birthday is September 3, but we celebrated it on September 7 this year with his brother, Joe, who turned 90 on the 8th. Joe and his wife, Bev, took us to dinner at Mark's favorite restaurant, the Texas Roadhouse. We had a lovely visit with them. Joe and Bev are both suffering from failing health, and each time we get together we cherish the time spent, because we never know if it will be the last. But you know, that's true with anyone--young or old, sick or healthy. None of us has a guarantee of tomorrow. Each moment spent with loved ones should be treated like the last one. If we would all live like that, we would have happier lives, happier memories and fewer regrets. 

And the following Saturday, Mark and I attended the 51st Reunion of his high school graduating class--Kenyon High School. The Reunion was supposed to be the 50th last year, but Covid put the kibosh on it and they decided to just move it up a year. It was a nice event in spite of being put on by a bunch of 70-year-olds (wink, wink). I didn't know anyone there, yet everyone treated me like a friend. There were probably forty or fifty people in attendance, including spouses.

The Class (Mark's in the back middle)

When he was a "baby"

We left Minnesota a few days ago for Wisconsin's Door County peninsula, famous for its cherries. Halfway across Wisconsin, our generator quit working. We're not sure what's wrong with it, but it won't start for love or money...well, maybe money, but we haven't sunk any into it yet. In the meantime we aren't going to be able to boondock until we get it fixed. Mark is in the process of trying to troubleshoot or schedule a repair on it. But getting emergency services these days is nearly impossible. The place we might have gone in Wausau was booked out to April. He's on the phone with our premier service tech, Ronnie Wolfe, as I write. The bad news is we're not going to be anywhere near him until the end of October. The good news is, we aren't going to need to boondock much until the end of October.

God is good. We were able to find an affordable place with electric power to park our "bus" tonight. Tomorrow we'll be in Sturgeon Bay at a campground for two weeks. Then we'll be back at the nephew's property in Isanti until after Riley's wedding, after which we head south for those needed repairs.

I missed Arick's wedding because I needed to make an emergency trip to Spokane. I'll talk about that in my next post.

Safe travels & God bless!

One more picture of the "Class of '70"
(Mark is standing next to his nephew, Bob Finnesgard.)