I want to share some things from Marcia's dad. So many of his thoughts mirror mine.
xo
Abby
P.S. And Happy Birthday to Grace!!
This tragedy strikes me as a graduate. I formed much of who I am today in the Cadet Corps. The motto, UT PROSIM, That I Might Serve, has guided me too. When I was a freshman, there were riots on campus over the invasion of Cambodia, and buildings were burned down by radicals. State Police had to come on campus to restore order. I remember then how so many felt that this was an invasion of our world of academic growth and freedom. It interfered with our preparation for the future. But other felt that a campus as a developer of the future leaders and citizens couldn't be isolated from the world and society.
On Monday that reality intruded in a most horrific way. I was reminded of how this is an almost daily experience for people in many countries, especially Iraq. The school tragedy in Beslan, Russia a couple years ago was a sharp reminder that evil can intrude anywhere.
We have been so blessed as a nation to be spared this. In fact, it is the exceptional nature of this event that adds to its horror. But while this shows the dramatic terrible impact a single person can have, let us not forget that a single person can have dramatic effect for good. I was deeply moved by the professor, a Holocaust survivor, who willingly placed his life in jepoardy to save his students. John Stuart Mills said that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Despite the tragedy, many good people did things in face of great danger.
And let us not forget the poor young man who wrought this tragedy. One can only wonder what all brought him to this state and what might have turned him aside, if anything. He appears to have been deeply troubled. Some tried to help; but ultimately the system was limited. I found it greatly sad that they said that in a year at school he had no visitors, not even family. He was alone in life; which probably led to him taking others with him in death. It seems a very common element in tragedies such as this that the perpetrators all seem to have felt alone, isolated, abused, and picked on by fellow students.
My prayers go out to the families of both dead and injured and to the families and friends who were threatened by the unknown concerning their love ones. May each of you find peace as well as thanksgiving for the precious life we have.
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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