Hanna Helen Ohlund

This is the toughest post I could never imagine writing. On August 7th, my little 24-year-old sister Hanna was in a car accident that would take her life. I will never forget these days. The disbelief. The sound of Jackie's cry, the look in her face. The complete sadness. The pain I felt in my heart as the neurosurgeon explained that she no longer had any brain activity. The happiness we felt when we learned her organs could help save or better the lives of 6 to 8 people. And the increased sense of love and family we all felt, sadly due to the loss of our dear Hanna.

Hanna was on her way home Wednesday, August 7th when for some reason, her car veered sideways and she struck a electrical pole. Not long before she texted her Grandma to talk about coming to stay with her. Not wanting Grammy to be alone since Grandpa Rog had died just days earlier. And that's who Hanna had become. A sweet and caring young lady. Just 24 years old, with seemingly an entire life to live.

I didn't hear about her until Thursday while at work. I had a morning meeting and prior to this meeting, my phone was on vibrate, stuffed in my desk. During this time, I unknowingly was receiving texts and calls. After my meeting, I saw an email from Charity. The subject "Call your brother ASAP", no message. My heart sank. The last time I had a very similar (if not the exact same) email from Charity, my dad was being air-lifted to Indianapolis after his fall from the balcony. I grabbed my cell phone to make a private call. I was horrified to see multiple missed calls...Sven, Aunt Jane, Buddy. And texts from Jennifer and my mom saying "We're so sorry." and "Let me know if there is anything I can do." WHAT? I still had no idea what was going on. I assumed the worse but still wasn't prepared to hear my dad's muffled voice tell me, "It's bad...It's really bad...." WHO? WHAT? "She was in an accident..." WHO? WHO? "Hanna...She's not going to make it." NO! How can this happen? This is something you hear on the evening news. But it's not happening to you. Not your family.

The next three days we stayed at the hospital. Everyone. We did everything we could to support each other. We cried. We laughed. And we cried some more.

Just the Saturday before the accident, we had dinner at The Stray Dog. This was the evening before Roger's funeral. The Stray Dog was Hanna's idea. It was Julie, Pat, Hanna, Buddy, Jackie, Sven, Charity, Matt and me. A nice rooftop dinner. As I sat across from Hanna and listened to her talk, I was so impressed with her. She was an adult. She was thoughtful, caring, mature, fun. Suddenly I realized that the 11 years age gap between us was gone. We were both adults. Hanna and Devin were people Matt and I could hang out with. Yeah, I need to make a note do do this, I thought. And while I'm so thankful that Hanna was happy and in a good point in life, it also makes me so sad that that's where it ended for her.

Devin holding Hanna's hand for the last time

 

 

 

She who leaves a trail of glitter will never be forgotten

Saturday, August 10th, Hanna became a hero to approximately 8 people as she donated her organs. We had our final moments in her room, talking to her, holding her hand, and kissing her head. Then we said our final goodbyes to her physical body. Never will we say goodbye to her completely. She will always be with us.

 

Birch Lake in July. Happiness radiating from her.

National Night Out Fun

McGuffey Family Reunion @ Pokagon State Park

Great picture of: William, Bella, Jack, Katie, Luke, and Rose Sherwood!

The Lodge. Beautiful!

The younger two Kaltenbachs with Eleanor, Carolyn, and Hank getting crafty in the craft room!

Three Generations of McGuffeys

Sibling Love: Susan White and Mike Young

Hank McGuffey and Matt McGuffey Young. Okay, in this picture I can definitely see the resemblance.

The kids playing with glow sticks in the hotel room

Hank drinking from his fabricated straw

Morning hike to the nature center

On the lookout for Bigfoot

I can't say it was this tree, but one tree lost a dead branch. It came from what seemed like 40 feet above. Initially, I didn't know what I was hearing. When I did, I looked up and was horrified to see it falling directly above Carolyn and me. I darted, she darted and a dagger of a branch landed at my feet. Shew, disaster avoided!

At the nature center

Michigan Fresh Picked Fruit!

This year I was determined to get the kids out to see what kind of havoc we could bring to u-pick. Somewhat to my amazement, they did great. We all loved it and I believe we've begun a family tradition!

First we picked blueberries at Rambo. Those little guys were low and easy pickin'. But because they were so little, it took quite a bit to fill our buckets. But we went on a beautifully cool summer day that was absolutely perfect for pickin'. Hank did the one for one pick. One in the bucket, one in the mouth. And at the end, the lady at Rambo gave him everything in his bucket gratis.

 Next up, Lemon Creek Winery and Orchards for sweet cherries and peaches. Like the blueberries, the cherries were low pickin'. But these guys were much bigger and took so much less time to fill the buckets. And we did fill, and slightly overfill, those buckets. As I tried to get Carolyn to stop picking, I was freaking out about what the heck we were going to do with a gazillion cherries.

 And then over to the peaches. These were the best peaches we had ever tasted. So juicy and sweet. But a little more difficult for the kids to pick and I was scrambling around to make sure they weren't pulling off the little low hangers that were under-ripe. But overall, we did a great job and more importantly, had a fantastic day enjoying the fruits of the summer!

What: Streidl Reunion - Where: Cottage on Lake 16 - When: Summertime, Every Year

Classic: The JOHN 'JACK' STREIDL'S sign at the top of the road

Once again, the Streidls gathered at the cottage on Lake 16 for an amazing weekend of laughing, socializing, playing, eating, reminiscing, and enjoying each others company.

This could have been a picture taken any year, the classic pieces exist: the cottage, the artisian well, the American flag, the bags game, and mainly, the conversation going on amongst family.

Brothers Joe and Matt Young

Sarah playing "lifeguard" (unless you look closer and notice the beer, then we have to think maybe she was also playing "relaxed sun goddess cottage go-er")

One of my favorite pictures even without the detail in each face. Will Gardner, Elliot Young and Jon Young in the canoe.

Keith Streidl playing king of the raft with the young'ins

Best Buds Grace and Carolyn

Carolyn and Eleanor and their frog

Hank at the artisan well. Another favorite.

This was new: Chris Burnett brought a pinata. Look at how well behaved those kids are, as they wait, drolling, for ... I'm actually not sure what they were waiting for.

On Our Favorites: The LaPorte County Fair!

I will not fool you, it is November and I'm blogging about our annual trip to the fair. No, the fair wasn't late this year. I'm late this year. And I hope to remember enough of each event so that I can enter some words to help relive these moments in our family's life. Thankfully pictures are worth a thousand words!

This year was the same as years past and we did all our favorite fair activities. In no particular order:

THE MOUSE GAME!

MILK!

PIONEER LAND: Washing clothes the old fashioned way

PIONEER LAND: Washing clothes the old fashioned way

TRACTORS!

The next picture I did not take. That day at the fair Hanna was working and came out after we had already left. But she texted me that evening that she has my 'product'. That's stylist lingo for the Aveda shampoo and hair, well, hair product. I texted back that we missed her at the fair. We certainly did...