These two women on my left are Shari Weisman and Amanda Goff – they are my sisters. We have been estranged off and on for the better part of the majority of our adult lives. What brought us together was the fact on this day we had to inform our mother that she was going to be moved into a group home in eight days. Our mother Karen Goff had a stroke back in October and apparently made the decision that she wouldn’t participate in her recovery even though her doctors gave her a 95% chance of doing so. A few minutes after snapping this first-ever selfie of the three of us together we walked in to inform our mom who was absolutely nonplussed as to her fate. Some days after this decision a hospice worker visited her and let us know that she qualified for hospice assistance as she was neglectful and even combative on eating or drinking, it appeared our mother was deciding to commit suicide. I’m posting this image with the date of March 13th as that’s when I shot it, but I’m writing this on the 25th of March as I’ve been informed that our mother is breathing laboriously and has been in a morphine-induced cloud with nearly no communication for the past five days. The end is likely near.
Eighth Day – Solo in Germany
Fifth Day – Solo in Germany
Leaving America
Just as I picked up Jutta in Denver, she’s leaving for Germany through Denver too except this time Caroline is flying with her to make sure everything goes okay. This has been a relatively quiet trip with Jutta here in Arizona with us. No grand adventures, just a lot of hanging out in our day-to-day life. It was six weeks away from the cold of the German winter but she’s returning to two months more of that season when she lands in about 16 hours from now. This is strange to think that this is our last photo together in the United States. Of course, I’ll see her again in Germany but these visits to our home have filled her with so many indelible memories that it is a sad thought of not seeing her face light up with a giant smile when she sees the two of us waiting for as she makes her way off the plane and into the terminal.
Caroline obviously got the window seat on the way to Denver and snapped a few photos along the way including this shot of the Meteor Crater in Northern Arizona. She also had a couple of nice photos of the snow-covered mountains coming out of New Mexico into Colorado but without much more to write about I won’t be sharing this time.
By the time they arrived, the ladies had to hoof it to the plane due to some reason or other and some delays that were going on due to heavy snow. In their haste, Caroline never had the opportunity to snap a selfie of them but with her own plane back to Phoenix delayed she hung out until Jutta was well on her way back to Frankfurt.
Hello 2014
Out in the middle of nowhere on our way back to Phoenix, Arizona. Besides the fact that there are no services for the next 57 miles or 92km which is unheard of in Germany, where Jutta is returning to in just four days, it was the sign about the prohibition of sheep and goats that caught our eye. Happy New Year, and welcome to 2014.
Death Valley with Jutta
We are in Death Valley National Park on the last day of the year. With Jutta having been here a couple of other times, we decided to take her into a corner she hadn’t visited yet, nor had we.
To get to our surprise location, we had to head to the west side of the park and find the Emigrant Canyon Road turnoff.
Our route took us right into the snowline on this beautiful blue sky day.
We are at the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns that are now long out of use, but back in the late 1800s they were busy at work making charcoal for the miners in the area.
Our views were spectacular up here, affording Jutta sights of Death Valley that few take the time to see. From way up here, we needed to way back down there as Caroline needed to get to the visitors center before they closed so she could be sworn in for her newest Junior Ranger badge.
With a stroll down a boardwalk in Death Valley, we closed out 2013.