Liz Overstreet:  

Life. Curve balls. Survival. I grew up in Redding, California. a long time ago in another lifetime. I am the baby of the family, with an older brother and two older sisters. I married in 1983, in love with an ambitious young Air Force man. We moved around a little, had two beautiful sons, and eventually made roots in Oregon. Divorced 13 years later, sighs of relief, aftermath to follow. Fast forward to 2006. I was strongly considering attending the reunion, when just after my Dad's 84th birthday in August, we learned he had a tumor, brain cancer, and not long to live. I drove back and forth - Portland to Redding to get in some last visits. And thankfully he passed in a reasonably short amount of time, and without too much discomfort. We were all gathered with him, and it was peaceful, almost beautiful, more like a birth than a death in watching his jovial spirit leave the broken old container that most of us leave behind some day. Just over a year later, in 2007, I would also say a much more difficult goodbye to my youngest son who was only 18. He suffered for over three years with depression, and chemical dependency (street drugs, and the ones the doctors introduced him to - not that I'm bitter) before he took his life. Let's just say, after hospital stays, rehab, and 'in-patient treatment' that allowed him to walk away because 'that's the law for an adult' -- if I come across anyon...Expand for more