Trident Trials: The Glimmer

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

James quickly became an elementary schooler now and life was going really well. We found that we as a family were growing more and more and discovering more about each other every single day. It was something that we each dreamed about as kids, but we were glad to see it in execution. There were challenges, as there always are, but nothing seemed to matter to any of us. Anytime there was an issue that arose, there always seemed to be a family moment around the corner. Some people will try to tell you that if you have to work too hard, then it's not worth it. They are wrong. Family is something that you don't really choose. The people that are in your life will come and stay, most likely with or without your permission.

The hardest challenge of all was when Adalyn's father passed away. Killian was one of the hardest-working people I met. I knew where Adalyn got her work ethic from. She tried to make him proud with everything that she did. He had a heart attack when he was out here visiting the family on a vacation. He never loved the fact that we worked for Trident, but wasn't ever totally against it either, but because it wasn't someplace that he really longed to be, it wasn't very often that he came to visit us. We were all surprised to hear from him. He was out climbing a mountain or doing something ridiculous for his age, which was 83, and he called and told us he wanted to come down and see James. We, of course, told him we would be happy to see him and so he flew in three days before he died. Adalyn and I think he came down to visit because he knew that his time was ending. We do not know how he could've known that, but he must've sensed it and taken one last opportunity.

We had an amazing time with everything that we did on the trip leading up to his death, it really was a decent way to spend his last days and I really think that it helped Adalyn a tremendous deal with working through the emotions that accompanied the tragedy. If there ever was a good way to pass, your family would surround it doing things you love. I didn't get to be that close to him before he passed. I was unsure if he thought I was good enough for Adalyn. It wasn't anything that I would bring up with him, even if he lived. I was confident that I could and would take great care of her and James, no matter what his opinion was.

On the first day of the trip, we all took a trip into one of the small towns close to the facility and ate at a couple of local restaurants, and walked around some of the cute little shops. It wasn't a fancy day by any means at all, but it was one that we enjoyed very much. The second day that he was here, we went to a drive-in movie with him, at his request, and saw a classic old comedy. The beautiful flowers that were in the field around our house were present to add lighting to the area. It was then we told him about our jobs and the first few months of James's life. I felt like it was something that we both wanted to talk to him about for ages. It felt like a bit of a relief to get it all off of our chests. We could've told him over the phone, but he wasn't much of a talker on the phone. He was so excited to hear about our lives, and to hear about James. He seemed happy that we continued to push past any challenges that came our way. It allowed him to be reminiscent of his wife, Adalyn's mother, who passed a few years prior.

I never knew either of them really well and got little chance to because of how busy we both stayed with our jobs. They sounded like they had a really caring life together before she had passed away. She was exploring a cave and took a fall that led to her death. Her team could get her out of the cave, but she died because of the injuries she sustained a few short days after. Killian talked often about how she loved interacting with nature. She loved to just go exploring and being in nature. It was kind of poetic that she died doing something that she loved, and that Killian did the same.

The last day that we spent with him was the one that he died. It wasn't until the end of the day that he showed symptoms, and the entire day before was actually a very pleasant one. We walked up the side of his favorite mountain in our region. We took a picnic lunch with us and ate at a creek side. James came with us and was so enthralled by nature that he didn't even seem to notice that we spent most of the entire day talking about him. Every once in a while, he would hear his name and his head would pop up. His curiosity was always funny to see, but he didn't seem to mind.