Cheap Gas! Duct Tape - Sentimental Journey Part 4

We Miss You, Joey - The Sentimental Journey Special Post

Today is the 6 month mark since Joey's departure to Heaven. We try not to say, "since Joey died" anymore. Some would say that's a euphemism, a form of denial, and a sugar-coat of the facts, and I guess that's partly true. The word "death" has become a painful word that we don't like to use anymore. It's jarring, and dark and final and hopeless. Painful. We need more than those hard words to get by..

Our progress in dealing with the loss of Joey is determined by one thing---our hope in a place called Heaven. We have found that focussing on God's promises is the ONLY way out. God's words about Heaven, eternal life, our blessed hope---those are the words that heal and strengthen. The past six months have been hard work---a difficult climb out of a deep pit of crushing loss and disappointment. So when we talk about Joey's departure to Heaven, it is a statement of faith on our part...a declaration that there is more than meets the eye in our loss.

Though Joey is no longer here on earth, and that's the hard part, he is still nonetheless very much alive. He is in Paradise. He is experiencing the joy of being in the presence of God, and the pleasures at His right hand. His time in the courts of Heaven have been better than thousands of days anywhere else. He sees God and the saints and the angels and is also watching the spiritual battle on earth, which is far more gripping than the best movie he could ever see at the Cinerama Dome in LA. He is hearing music and making music in a whole new way, creating with some of the finest musicians ever known. He is talking with some of the finest minds in history--poets, writers, thinkers---people he read about and admired while on earth. He is praying for those he loves---his grandpa and his mom and dad, and his sisters and brothers-in-law, and his beloved nieces and nephews, and precious Rachel. We can almost here him cheering us on to keep the faith....trust...believe.

So for the past six months, day by day, layer by layer, we have been adding to our storehouse of promises. We are creating a rich view of Heaven, based on God's word, so that we can bear the absence of our Joey. And God is working hope in us, so that we are comforted that this is a temporary loss. And for now, Joey is enjoying and exploring Heaven, and as we wait for the moment of reunion, he too is waiting for us to arrive.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66 - Part 3 of the "A Sentimental Journey"

Route 66 was the original interstate highway. Stretching between LA and Chicago, it was the only way to get across country before the 60's and the advent of the interstate highway system we use now. Route 66 had a culture all its own with snappy service stations, refreshing soda fountains and teepee-shaped motor hotels springing up all along its 1600 miles. Joe and I both remember it well from our childhoods in southern California.

As we travel along I-40, which stretches from coast-to-coast, we are running parallel with the old Route 66, and it runs for miles right next to the interstate. We've been surprised that many of the towns we are stopping in have a designated "Historic Area" devoted to Route 66 and it's small businesses reminiscent of the 50's. That makes us feel real-l-l-ly old...our history is now "Historic"! The signmakers are obviously too young to know better.

The thing about Route 66 is this--in spite of its promise to give us our kicks, there really ain't much going on. Especially across the Great Plains fo the US. I keep checking the AAA guidebooks for POI's (for the uninitiated, that means points of interest) and have yet to find anything worth stopping for. So we are driving on and on and on....trying to make our 500 miles to Oklahoma City by midnight. Keep your fingers crossed!

On a happy note, Albuquerque is a pretty charming place. We visited the oldest church in Albuquerque (1703) and found it peaceful and soothing.



At the store attached to the convent, we found a beautiful iron cross to go near Joey's memorial tree in JoAnne's backyard. We found crosses for everyone in our family...small reminders of our hope in Heaven.

BIG BLESSINGS - A Sentimental Journey Part 2

We left Maui last Sunday intending to visit LA area friends and family, then pack up Gunther and leave. Gunther had been in storage at Rocky and Doreen Liuzzi's storage facility in Temecula for the past 6 months, cozy and safe, but not moving! And now we were wondering if he could even make the journey! So in a flash of inspiration, Joe contacted Lloyd and Renee Mize...dear old friends from our CA church who lived near the storage facility. They were immediately responsive...Lloyd had dreamed about Joe the night before! It was a sign! They offered to do whatever we needed.

Joe asked Lloyd if he could get Gunther out of storage, and as an experienced RV afficionado, test-drive Gunther and give us the verdict on his road-worthiness. Lloyd, who has plenty to do running his own life and business, put us first and graciously agreed to do it all. Unfortunately the Mighty Road Warrior failed the test. Six months in mothballs and he had lost his edge. What to do now?


Lloyd came to the rescue. He found Scott of Quality Automotive in Temecula, the finest auto mechanic in Southern California, and told him our story. Scott learned about Joey and Rachel, and Gunther's legendary travels, and our quest to imitate a small portion of that journey in honor of Joey. Scott accepted the challenge, knowing our short time frame to get it done, and went to work. Parts were ordered and Gunther was up on the rack before we could say "Master Card".


Scott had 24 hours to get Gunther rolling, and he pulled it off in style. He got us our smog check so we could register him, and even ran Gunther thru the carwash before we got there to pick him up. Now Gunther hums, he sings, he's purring like a kitten...he is the happiest thing on 4 wheels. Just like a character out of the "Cars" movie, he seems to have a big smile on his face, and enjoying nothing more than rolling down the highway! Thanks Scott...you and your awesome crew made it happen!



So we owe a lot to the people who have come beside us to support our quest. The Liuzzi's for their endless generosity and use of their storage facility, Lloyd and Renee, who took Gunther out of storage, found Scott, and enlisted his enthusiastic support, and then fed and pampered us out on their beautiful ranch in Anza, while we waited. And Scott, who could have told Lloyd he was too busy to deal with a 21 year old VW van, instead threw all of his skill and his whole heart into the effort and gave us a fine-tuned machine.



Because of their generous efforts, I am writing this from the Grand Canyon where we spent a beautiful day and a half reliving a segment of Joey's journey. We got up for the sunrise this morning and spread some of Joey's ashes into the deep and beautiful canyon. We miss you son and hope you are enjoying our Sentimental Journey, and all of our friends who have made it possible.



Karen and Joe

GUNTHER... A Sentimental Journey .. Part 1

We are taking Joey's VW van, affectionately known as Gunther, cross-country to our grandchildren in VA. It's a nifty and nimble vehicle. It's got a stove, a frig, and a table. The roof pops up and it sleeps a family of 4 plus little Aidan. We could have shipped it for cheaper, but we wanted to experience a bit of what Joey experienced the last year of his life-- as he and Rachel drove the northern hemisphere, from Alaska to the Panama Canal, from west coast to east coast and back again. They logged 27,000 miles. We are doing a mere 12% of that, 3000 miles from LA to Virginia Beach (in 8 days). We wanted to share some of his zest for life and his beautiful and spontaneous spirit of adventure. We wanted to have some time to reflect and honor our son as we journey together, listening to music, and talking about the adventure of life, and our new chapter with Joey in Heaven.


This morning, after Joe's impressive all night drive, we are in Kingman Arizona, just over the state line, filling up Gunther's tank and our's, at a gas station with the world's cleanest bathroom (thank you God for road trip mercies!) We slept in the pop-up last night, which was very cool and adventurous for us!!

We woke up with frozen toes, but well-rested. We are now 4 hours away from the Grand Canyon, where we will be spending the next 24 hours. On our next post, we'll tell you about what happened in LA before we started the trip....cuz it was a series of divine appointments and special moments---confirmation that this trip was the right thing for us to do!


Our love to all...keep us in your prayers,
Joe and Karen in the Gunther Machine!

Gunther Back On The Road

Who is Gunther? He's the most precious Van of Joe(y) and Rachel! The way I look at it, he's kinda like their lovechild :). Here's a link to Van Down By The River on Gunther's early days. That van was with Joey and Rachel through thick and thin, duct tape and all. Just look at these end of the trip photos:



Joe and Karen (and might be Rachel too - I am not sure) will be driving Gunther across the states once again. What an adventure! I told Joe we should blog their trip - Joey would, don't you think?

I Know Joey Is Happy and Proud of Joe and Karen

I was watching the splendid slideshow created by David Hessemer on their Overnight at Healeaka and I couldn't help but think of how Joey must have been so proud of Joe and Karen for doing "walking the crater and spending night there". What an adventure! Here's the link to the slide show (in case some of you readers are not on Facebook yet :)

http://hawaiianimagesonline.com/Showit/Haleakala/


* Photo is also from Facebook, courtesy of Elis.

Better Is One Day

Cuy Pirates

From Design Aspirations

I Will Be Still, Know You Are God

Can A Halloween Photo Come Any Cuter Than This?

Joey Loves Keanae

We had a wonderful time this weekend at Keanae. We went there with K and C Kepler and their family. As usual, it was a very relaxing time, so rejuvenating for the mind, body and soul.

As I said posted before, Joey loves Keanae. That's one of his favorite places on earth. Keanae holds many wonderful memories of Joey - I wonder if Joe and Karen had visited there since Joey's passing. I think it would be healing. The Keanae journal has recorded many of Joey's thoughts and reflections. It was nice reading some of them again.

The photo below was taken at the lanai (porch for those who live on the mainland :). Everyone loves that swing. You sit there, looking at the ocean and ahh... it's a bliss. Joey even took it to the next level of bliss - joy as he plays ukulele while sitting on the swing. I can almost hear the Hawaiian version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" being played.

* I posted a photo of Joey on my new blog A Maui Blog - I couldn't resist not sneaking one of it in there :) Check it out :)

Happy Birthday Papa!

I Can Only Imagine

Reading Karen's post on Heaven reminded me of this song...



* Story of this song is HERE and HERE.

Why doesn't the Bible tell us more about Heaven?

* Posted by Karen at Facebook

I've been wondering that a lot since Joey died. I've wondered what he's doing, what he's thinking, what he's seeing, what he's feeling. Does he miss us, does he see us, does he get status reports on us like we get on Facebook? Is he praying for us? Does he actually get to speak with Jesus, Abe Lincoln, Will Shakespeare, Johnny Cash? What does he do "all day long"?

Why so little concrete information about Heaven? We hear that it's good, and that it's far beyond anything we know here, but there's not much info actually describing the place--you know, "A Day in the Life" in Heaven.

Then I read this Bible verse this morning. Jesus is talking:
"I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;
how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? " John 3:12

He's using the argument of the lesser to the greater. If I don't believe the things I can see, how can I believe the things I can't see. It stopped me in my mental tracks. I have to admit that I still don't consistently believe the things He has told me about earthly things: That He will provide, that He will never leave me or forsake me, that He works all things together for good. After all these years of hearing God's promises, I still have trouble with the basics, especially during hard times.

And apparently I am not alone. Not too many Bible characters have been given revelation about Heaven. Less than a handful. St. Paul had a vision of Heaven and mentioned the fact of it, but never wrote the details of what he saw. Too sacred, I think...or beyond description. Or perhaps God commanded that he keep silence.

So even though I don't get the particular answers I am looking for, still I am comforted by Jesus' words. It tells me He understands my curiosity. It tells me that the silence about Heaven is intentional and not an oversight. It tells me that there are things too big for me, and One greater than me is in control.

Just as there are profound things we don't tell children till they are mature enough to handle it, so perhaps the same is true with Heaven. We don't have the spiritual maturity to comprehend much about Heaven. Only that it's there.

Jesus said another comforting thing about Heaven, Jn. 14 1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you that where I am, you may be also."

Basically, He is saying we are just going to have to trust Him on this one. He says He's told us the truth and would tell us if it weren't so. Just trust Him.

So that's what I'll do.