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    One So Precious Among Us
    One So Precious Among Us
    One So Precious Among Us
    Ebook129 pages1 hour

    One So Precious Among Us

    By David Landrey, Cynthia Decker and Martha Landrey

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    About this ebook

    On June 3, 1998, eleven-year-old Rachel’s life was lost in a tragic accident. In the days, weeks and months that followed her parents were encouraged to write down their thoughts and feelings before they were forgotten. The result is a story that tenderly shares their experience of coming to terms with the loss of a child while maintaining faith in God. By sharing their story, they hope that you may be comforted by knowing there are reasons why we can peacefully endure even the most difficult experiences.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateDec 11, 2017
    ISBN9781543920383
    One So Precious Among Us

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      Book preview

      One So Precious Among Us - David Landrey

      Copyright 1999, 2017 by David Landrey

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Ibex Publishing, 4135 E Medinah Ct., Eagle Mountain, Utah, 84005. The following is a true account. The texts appearing in the Appendix are used by permission of the authors.

      Mickey Mouse®, Snow White®, Old Maid® and Frutios® are registered names.

      Cover design by Cynthia Decker

      ____________________________________________

      Library of Congress Catalog Card number: 98-89407

      ISBN: 978-1-54-392038-3

      ____________________________________________

      Printed in the United States of America.

      One So Precious

      Among Us

      David and Martha Landrey

      Cynthia Decker

      Special thanks to Jill Hubley, Sandra Noel and

      Melissa Landrey for their help with editing

      Ibex Publishing

      Eagle Mountain, Utah

      For Melissa and Kadi

      and all those who served and guided

      Rachel in her greatest quest-to learn.

      CONTENTS

      I’m So Anxious

      Chapter 1

      It had been such unseasonably soggy, cool weather in Rocklin. Even during the last weekend of May, Mother Nature, in her last effort at winter, delivered a few inches of snow in the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains. So the 85 degrees forecast for Monday, June 1, prompted great anticipation and excitement in the fifth grade classes at Parker Whitney Elementary. Today was the long awaited end-of-the-year field trip to a nearby water park. It started like any other day in the bright California sunshine, but soon dark clouds would overshadow the hearts and minds of many individuals. This day would never be forgotten.

      Rachel, a tall, blonde, slender eleven-year-old whose sparkling brown eyes danced with excitement, was to ride with her classmates on the bus while Martha, her mother, would meet her at the water park when she arrived about ten o’clock in the morning. The air was filled with the music of happy children. Teachers and parent chaperones were trying to keep the children in some sort of order as they lined up to enter the large wave pool.

      MARTHA: The line was short, but the mother in front of me couldn’t decide whether she should buy separate tickets for some of her group or to just splurge and go for the full pass. The few minutes I waited in line, gave me time to think.

      Because of the long, wet spring and very crisp weekend weather, I mentioned to Rachel how cold the water in the pool would be. I didn’t want to forbid her to go swimming at the water park, but did explain the probable nature of the day and talked about optional activities. The decision was left up to Rachel. She hated being cold and decided she would rather do some of the other activities instead. She wasn’t going to take her suit at all.

      The normal rushing around after breakfast and before school was in motion, but something about Rachel’s pacing movement caught my eye. She must have hung her two swimming suits on my bedroom doorknob. I noticed that she found reason to walk past them several times, and each time she paused and held one of them out as if she were examining a garment of fine workmanship. Just prior to family prayer, Rachel came into my room again. With a far away look in her eyes, she held her red striped swimming suit. It seemed as if she were imagining herself having fun in the pool. I simply asked her if she would like to wear the suit underneath her shorts and tee-shirt in case she decided to go swimming later. She glanced at me with that typical sparkle in her eyes, and ran to her room with suit in hand, disrobing on the way. She quickly emerged fully dressed again and very eager to get to school and join her classmates.

      My husband, Dave, left for work in San Rafael around eight o’clock in the morning. I took the girls to school and came back home before going to meet Rachel at the water park. Even though the field trip was scheduled to conclude at about two o’clock in the afternoon, the thought occurred to me to make after school arrangements for Kadi, Rachel’s younger sister. I wasn’t positive I would be home on time. Then I thought to call another friend to remind her about our scheduled meeting the next day. I remember telling her I had a feeling my day was going to be crazy and that I may forget to call her later. Little did I know how chaotic this day would become.

      I thought it might be very nice for Rachel and I to play a round of miniature golf, and I purchased two tickets. To slow down and enjoy making a memory was a delightful thought. When I returned to the arcade entrance where we were to meet, I could not find Rachel. I thought perhaps she got tired of waiting and decided to join her friends in the pool and I quickly made my way in that direction. Surprisingly, I found that one of the teachers had detained Rachel at the gate. She said she heard me tell Rachel earlier to wait. I was amazed and delighted that my instructions to Rachel were heard above the noise and commotion of so many children.

      Alex Morgan, a classmate, asked Rachel, Do you know how to swim?

      Yes, she replied, with a look of confidence (she really didn’t know how to swim but thought she did).

      Do you want us to go with you in the pool? he continued.

      Rachel said, No, I’ll be all right.

      Rachel preferred playing in the shallow end of the water or playing near the edge where she felt secure. We tried teaching her to swim a few times. What a frustrating experience for all of us. She didn’t want her face or hair to get wet and could not remember to keep her mouth closed. If we were at the lake or the beach it was even worse. She worried about what was in the water (seaweed feels scary) and didn’t want anything to touch her legs or toes. For the time being, we decided to be satisfied with her idea of swimming, because she was always very careful.

      Rachel was eager to go into the pool and be with her friends, but I wanted to spend some time with her before she got too involved with her schoolmates. I said to Rachel, Let’s go for a walk first. Neither of us had been to the water park before and we decided to tour the grounds. Our walk quickly led us to the miniature golf course. I suggested playing miniature golf now, rather than later when it would get hot. We were quite a team. I played a little better than Rachel, but as far as

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