My going away poem

(Poems are a large part of our way of life. I know Adam would laugh at my atempt to honor his life. Please don't take offense. He wouldn't.)

Adam, you've been around the block
You've done fun things
You've climbed some rocks
You've skied, and hiked
You've fished and camped
You've made some goals and been the champ

You've had some jobs
Some fun, some not
You've had lots of roomates
some ugly, some hot
You've told some good stories
some bombed, some were great
You've stayed outside hangin'
with Ben until late

You played games with kids
like Emma, A, and Izzy
making them laugh and
making them dizzy
You bought Rail Baron and should us some fun
And taught us to play
Too bad I won

Sometimes you watched Survivor
with the Vartanians,Ben and I
We watched lots of West Wings
some even made us cry
We had lots of parties
with lots of our friends
Don't foget E.G.G.N.O.G.
The delight of all men

I could go on forever
about life in the NorthWest
but as we all know
some things are best
We couldn't stay around
to share with the rent
We had to move to Texas
so away we went

You couldn't survive without the Ries' close by
and so to Uganda you decided to fly
"I think I'll share Jesus with folks who don't know"
We thought, "He's trying to one up us."
"Adam, you ho!"

We were proud of your choice to go spread the Word
Your decision to leave was not too absurd
You worked in The Source Cafe and you served
a lot of Ugandans who neededto surf

You got to spend time with your brother and Kym
and sweet little Eli
who had all four limbs
You gained some more teammates
but not some more light
You had refrigeration for one day and one night

Then on a Tuesday some time after five
You had some car problems and your truck took a dive
Then Moses and you and one other guy
took a bad spill and you had to die

I know that you did all that you could
We just figured it'd be on the top of Mt Hood
Or maybe when you were old and gray
It's hard 'cause we didn't know this was the way

It sucks that you left
and we're all pretty pissed
We're also real sad
You'll definately be missed
But I will look forward
to that special day
that we'll meet again
Some other way...

Peace out, dude!

Your friend, Jen

Adam Langford

I know most of you have recieved the news of Adam's death but I must honor him by sharing about how great he was. First, of all, we have heard many accounts of how he died so please take that into consideration when hearing this account. He was in a delivery truck picking up coffee beans for their internet cafe and lost control of the vehicle while traveling down a steep, winding road. The truck headed down a cliff and Adam was found dead at the scene. The other men who were in the truck with him had to be taken to the hospital and suffered internal injuries. One man made it and the other died at the hospital. It is amazing how many different stories we have heard but this is the truest information that Ben and Kym have been given.

We are in Oklahoma City now and saw Ben and Kym and Eli at the airport last night. We will go and spend time with them today as well as with the rest of the family. We are thankful for the Portland friends that will be able to come for Adam's funeral this next week.

Adam was a great, great guy. He was one of the funniest people I have ever met. He was genuine and thoughtful. He gave of himself in every area of his life. I have so many great memories of Adam and I'll try to do him justice...

Adam lived at our house for just under a year before we moved out to Texas. We shut him up in our garage and let him come in for food and the bathroom (every twenty minutes) and we let him watch an occasional t.v. show since he was paying for cable... We got to listen to his record collection together and we played with the children together right before bedtime... I will always remember the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I ever had, made by Adam Langford. I will remember playing outside as a family, throwing a baseball or a football or a frisbee... I will remember the laughter and entertainment that Adam and Ben brought me daily. I will remember playing Rail Baron together and a rum and coke every once in a while... I'll remember trying to find him girls to date which was very ineffective! What I remember about my buddy, Adam, is living life together. Even when it was via e-mail or a phone call, life was better with his stories and his laughter. It's hard to imagine life without Adam in it. Maybe I just won't.

Adam, thank you for every smile and every thoughtful word. Thank you for how you gave of yourself and how you sacrificed on behalf of others. You were the same person no matter who you were surrounded by and you lived the life of Jesus. You rock and I will miss you dearly!

"Would you like a sample?"

 

"Would you like a sample?" is what I say over and over and over again. Here I am in action, or shall I say, not in action. Friday was horrible! No one ate my samples and now I'm goona have to beat sombody up...

I look real good, don't I? (Texans say "real" instead of "really") 

Want a sample?

It is probably way too late for me to be writing anything but I'm going to give it a shot.

Some random thoughts on Supermarkets, samples, and food. My friends, the Sherks, are the only friends I know that call the grocery store the "Market". I thought about that this weekend while I was handing out samples at Walmart. I get to think about a lot of things while I'm at Walmart. I actually wasn't even bored these last three days. I realize (many times, actually) that I need to eat healthier. Sometimes I give samples of things that are fairly nutritous and have some sort of redeeming quality about them. Then there are times when I give out samples of Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles. I bet you're wondering if they have meat in them already. You bet they do. Yummy, freeze dried meat. Now, that's nutrition! Don't forget the yummy powdered cheese. Did I mention that there are two grams Trans Fat? I always want people to stock up on whatever I'm giving samples of but I'll have to admit it was a little sad today. Now Americans have one more shortcut for there fast paced life and one more thing that makes them less and less healthy. Parents were constantly picking up a couple boxes saying, " My kid will love this!" "Get 'em some carrots or something instead, dude", I want to say. Then there's another part of me that wants everyone to try my samples no matter what. I start getting pissed when people tell me "no". I'm like,"Would you like to try a sample?" And they're like,"No thank you." And I want to say,"Try the sample, damn it!" I was really proud the other day when kids were picking the broccoli and cheese sauce over the yogurt. I make no claims on which was truly healthier but the thought does count. Anyways, while I was at work I also decided that I need to exersize more. I'm not going to watch t.v. unless I have excersized for that day. I guess that's a good note to end on. I'm glad I give out samples. It's easy money, good money and it's fun!

Woah, Frisky! Bad dog!

This is a picture of my recovering daughter after a ferocious dog bit her face off.

It looks bad, huh? It seemed worse at the time. There was blood everywhere!

Here's the culprit. He looks ferocious, doesn't he? Don't worry. We ate him for dinner the next night. Everybody is safe now!