When in Doubt, Have a Party (You Are Invited)

We have had a hard last week. We wound up going on almost no notice to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver.

There, Ellen had some tests, and some surgical procedures. Two nights in a large hospital were tiring. And the drive was made far more difficult by the fact that Interstate 70 has been closed by a forest fire and all the traffic diverted through Gunnison. And the smoke from the fires casts a pall over everything.

We want to invite all of our friends and everyone who cares about Ellen to a party in our back yard tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 19.

We cannot know the future, but is not clear that we will have future opportunities to do anything like this, so we hope you can come.

There will be a Zoom link, so people who are not able to be here in person, or feel they would be taking too big a risk, can see and hear the event and greet us.

The party will start at about 5:00 in our back yard.

At about 5:30 Ellen will come out and sit on the porch, if she is able to do so. She will be with us maybe 30 minutes, or as long as her energy lasts. And she will then go inside to rest and hope that the rest of us continue the party.

This is being done impromptu and on very short notice; Luke is pretty much full time on care giving, and must be with Ellen most of the time, so we are hoping that you can, in the best tradition of small western towns, improvise the planning. You are all leaders. If something needs to be done, do it.

Later today, we will make another post with more details, including the Zoom link.

Date:Wednesday August 19

Time: 5:00 on

Place: Back yard, 63 Mallard Point Drive

Invited: You, and anyone who feels a connection to Ellen

Bring: A chair to sit on, if you can

Protocol: Masks, social distancing — the last thing we want is for any harm to occur to any of our beloved friends. We are very serious about this.

Ellen has very limited energy. This was her idea, as she wants to see you all again after all the time apart. She does not have the energy to make or listen to speeches, but she loves the people of this community, here in Gunnison, in Argentina, Denmark, California, or wherever you may be.