Saying Goodbye

​I recently returned from a trip to Western Washington and Oregon to attend to several difficult family situations. For the past 60 years my family has leased a small cabin in the San Juans. Coincidentally it is on Orcas Island where Pastor McLane grew up! The cabin is just outside of Deer Harbor and is full of memories and happiness. When my family moved to Portland, Oregon from Kansas when I was 6 years old my father, who was raised in the Midwest, discovered . 

Ellen Taylor

that he was fascinated by the ocean. We spent a few years trying out different places to stay on the Oregon coast when he saw an ad for a place called Sunnyside Beach on Orcas Island. He jumped at the chance to stay there and thus began a tradition of summertime visits. Initially we rented the cabin weekly but over the years we were offered five years leases and we were there as often as possible.

​The cabin itself was very modest. It was originally part of the military housing at Fort Lewis just outside of Tacoma. After WWII was over the cabin was separated into two sections and sent up to Orcas on a barge. It was placed in a small cove next to Pole Pass with a beautiful west-facing view. There were four other cabins in the cove and we became friends with the other tenants and owners of the property. To us they were family. The summer, after my freshman year at the University of Oregon, was spent working on the dock, cleaning cabins, pumping gas and cooking burgers at the Deer Harbor Marina. Quite a change from my academic life! It was a great summer and it was hard to get back to school in September. My parents lived in Eugene, Oregon and continued to faithfully spend time on Orcas until age caught up with them and they could no longer travel. After their passing my brother and I continued to lease the cabin and shared the miracle of Orcas with our own children.
 
So now, many years later, we came to the conclusion that our time on Orcas was coming to an end. We made the difficult decision to give up our lease and say goodbye to the cabin. It had gotten more difficult to get up there, the cabin needed some major renovations and a lot of the people that we loved and spent time with had passed on. Additionally, the daughters, who had inherited the property when their father, longtime friend, Calvin, and his wife, Claire, were gone, were arguing about whether or not to sell the property. Many tears were shed as we tried to make a decision which was further complicated by the fact that our older sister is battling cancer and her future is uncertain. We felt that she deserves our attention now, our time and our love. We were comforted by the belief that the place was important but the memories of the people will live on in our hearts forever. So a couple of weeks ago my brother, John, and I went up to the island to empty the cabin. More importantly we needed to say a final goodbye to our parents.
 
Their request after their deaths was for us to co-mingle their ashes and scatter them in the waters of Puget Sound in front of the cabin. We had a lovely ceremony. We took a row boat and went about half a mile out from the cabin. No power boats were used as our mother was an environmentalist and would have appreciated the silence and the lack of dependence on fossil fuel. We prayed, remembered their lives and said goodbye for now. Ever since that day of remembrance, I have felt the presence of my parents every time I have visited the island. There is a small rock outcropping on the northside of our beach we called “The Point”. Whenever I went to Orcas I spent time there talking to my parents, praying, asking for their advice and their courage to help me face the challenges of life. Two weeks ago, as I sat once more on the rocky point in the early light of dawn, a sudden peace descended upon me. I knew for certain that the one I now need to turn to is Jesus. He is the one constant presence in my life. He is always there when I need Him. My parents will always have a special place in my heart but Christ is my Savior and I trust that He will always be there for me. He will give me strength and courage and direct my path.

​​“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
 
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105)
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In His Name, Ellen