A goodbye letter and tribute to the love of my life, Phyllis Elaine Hall

Oct. 8, 2008

My Dearest Phyllis,
I know you can’t read this letter, but I must send it to you anyway. My heart is broken. I only wish I had stayed with you the last three days so I could have taken care of you and prevented this terrible tragedy. I had no idea that you would be in any danger. I knew you loved hiking the PCT so I didn’t try to talk you out of staying for the extra days beyond what you originally planned.
You have been such a blessing in my life and you left me with such a wonderful family including 4 precious grandchildren. Through them, you live on. You also filled my life with rich memories over our 43 years of marriage and companionship which we celebrated a few weeks ago with hiking trips you planned at Mt. Rainier and the Goat Rocks. I know you loved being in the mountains, it was your greatest delight next to your family. Here are but a very few of the precious memories you’ve left me:
• Watching you walk down the aisle at our wedding in the gorgeous gown you made yourself. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to marry such a beautiful woman -- my high school sweetheart. We were married August 29, 1965 at the Walla Walla College chapel. For our honey moon we went camping and hiking at Mount Rainier and we’ve returned every year except the three years while I was in graduate school at Loma Linda University.
• I saw the joy and hard work you experienced that next year as you joined the Yeti Mountaineer’s Club on campus, took the mountaineering course, and graduated by climbing Mt. Hood, Mt. St.Helens (when there was a top), Mt. Adams, and eventually Mt. Rainier. The more you hiked and climbed, the stronger you got and eventually your severe asthma symptoms disappeared for over 25 years. Hiking and adventures in the out-of-doors became your love and passion.
• I also remember the thrill of walking down the aisle with you as we graduated together at WWC in 1968 - to both our parents’ amazement. I remember when you took tests at the beginning of college to see what you should major in and your tests indicated a forest ranger or cowboy. They didn’t offer that at WWC so you took Home Economics. But the tests were right!
• I loved watching you carry and deliver our first child in 1969 at Troy, Idaho. I was amazed as I watched you walk 4 miles everyday during your pregnancy even up to the day before David was born - and even rode a horse to hurry things along the last day. I remember your great love and tenderness as you nursed and took care of our first baby, David. It was a delight to see you so happy and grow into the wonderful, dedicated mother you became.
• I remember how you immensely enjoyed carrying your second child. You were never more happy, enthusiastic, and energetic as when you were pregnant. I remember you sitting in the lawyer’s office signing mortgage documents for our first home when labor pains began. You signed papers between contractions. Finally I got you out to the car and rushed you to emergency at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane. We called the doctor who was out playing golf. I went down to park the car and ran back up stairs just as the doctor arrived. Before he could even get his gloves on, Heather was born and he basically caught her in his hands and pronounced: “A beautiful baby girl!” who we named Heather Renee, born the last day in May, 1973. It was all over in about half an hour. You were ready to go home, but the doctor said you should stay in the hospital for at least a few hours, so when you weren’t holding or feeding Heather you handwrote all the birth announcements and had them ready to mail that afternoon! Later that same day you went home, beaming with joy.
• I remember how devoted you were to your children. You home-schooled both of them the first two years. You planned your own curriculum, bought your own books, and went on field trips you planned yourself. You did a great job because both children excelled in school.
• I remember your encouragement and loving support as I went back to graduate school at LLU, and your financial commitment to me and our family by working in the LLU Medical Center food service department as a tray line supervisor and later as the cook for Meals on Wheels.
• I remember the courage and determination that year you exhibited by joining the Loma Linda Lopers running club and training to become a runner. You were already walking but you wanted to become a runner. You trained by alternating walking and jogging, struggling for over a year before you could run your first mile continually. I thought you’d never become a runner because of your severe asthma problems. But you never gave up and within 6 more months you progressed to the place where you completed your first of many marathons - a full 26 miles.
• Since those years we made many more memories together by participating in numerous marathons throughout the West, in addition to the Boston marathon and the New York marathon which you signed us up for to celebrate your 50th birthday. You always loved a challenge.
• I especially appreciated your support and encouragement to start our own business when I was not sure what direction my career should take. We started working out of our home. I wrote computerized health appraisals. You helped sell them, collected the money, kept the books, did the shipping and together we started a health promotion business now recognized nationally and serving over 700 hospitals and 1500 other organizations throughout the United States and 6 other nations. Your contributions, financial oversight, and investment strategies were critical to its success.
• After our kids got into academy and college, your adventures turned more to hiking mountain trails and you learned about the Pacific Crest Trail which stretched from Canada to Mexico. You decided that would be your next great challenge and began hiking the trail in sections whenever you could get a free week or weekend. Sometimes I could go too, but much of the time you hiked it alone. You would return home walking on the clouds, energized by the adventure. Your hikes often took you 20, 25 and even 30 miles in a day. Some sections were not easily accessible by road so we would backpack those sections together or with friends. In a few years you had finished Washington and Oregon, and you began hiking the PCT in California.
• I remember the joys and challenges of hiking the John Muir section of the trail with you, about 240 miles of High Sierra Mountains, crossing passes between 10,000 and 13,000 feet. I remember one day how we cowarded behind a huge granite boulder trying to escape a frightening afternoon thunder storm accompanied by fierce winds, driving rain and sleet, lightening and deafening thunder all around. I wrapped a tarp around you as we huddled together. We reemerged an hour later as the storm rolled by, then finished our climb over 13,200 foot Forester Pass. You loved the excitement and even the long hard hours of carrying heavy packs over these high mountain trails. You would often be exhausted, but after a good night’s sleep you were eager for the next day’s challenge.
• Other adventures and memories we shared were biking trips such as the 42-mile ride across Oregon, the 320-mile ride through New England for a week in October to enjoy the Fall colors, riding the Canadian Ice Field Highway between Banff and Jasper, by Lake Louise, and meeting moose, bear, elk, mountain sheep, and other animals on our bikes along the way. Our third biking trip through this rugged Canadian terrain you offered to drive support van, and then hiked Canadian Rocky Mountain trails along the way. We also packed our bikes and travelled to Europe to join a group of 6 others bicycling across Germany and Austria. Biking was hard for you, but you came along because you didn’t want to miss out and to support me. On our last bicycling trip together this summer you chose to ride the Swiss train and hike and explore along the way as I biked across Switzerland. We rendezvoused daily for a picnic lunch, where we shared experiences and explored castles, mountain lakes, or quaint Swiss villages before finishing the day’s journey. At the end, you arranged 5 extra days to hike in the Swiss Alps, climbing mountain trails to the face of the Eiger and Jungfraujoch, and going to the “Top of Europe.” In the evening we explored and dined in the alpine villages of Wengen and Murren. You chose to climb the mountaineer’s trail rather than riding the gondola up to the 10,000 foot Schilthorn. You always loved a challenge and seldom took the easy way out.
• I will always treasure the memories of our many travels together as we explored Japan (including riding the trains at rush hour and running around the Emperor’s Palace)and travelled throughout China, crossing Tibet and climbing on Mt. Everest. You always enjoyed history and especially liked our visit to Jordan and Egypt to explore the pyramids, walk through the Valley of the Kings, and follow in the footsteps of Jesus across Israel. You loved the historical sites in Italy and Greece including the original site of the Olympics where we ran a lap on the Olympic race track (built 300 years before the time of Christ). You loved exploring the Greek Isles, Spain, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, Russia, Australia, Guam, Micronesia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and our last trip this summer in Northern Europe as we explored Norway’s Fjords and climbed mountain trails surrounded by spectacular waterfalls, mountain peaks, glaciers, and reindeer. You’ve been a wonderful companion with which to explore this awesome world God made for us.
• I thank you for being such a wonderful companion with a spirit of adventure that greatly enriched my life. I treasure the memories of our awesome 38th wedding anniversary at the Persimmon Country Club, which you planned for us and our many friends 5 years ago, and my surprise 60th birthday party last year at Eagles Landing with all our friends. I also treasure the memory of our recent wedding vow renewal ceremony I surprised you with in Hawaii, by the ocean, on a warm sandy beach in December; just the two of us in a traditional Hawaiian wedding ceremony, the minister, Hawaiian singers, and traditional hula dancing, as we recommitted our love to one another.
• I also treasure the memories of how you loved to help people, especially young people. You invited half a dozen or more college students to live with us over the years so they could afford to go to school. You financially assisted many more so they could go to college. You didn’t just help them financially, but you also encouraged, guided, and counseled them. One student you tutored received an award for the “most improved student” last year at Portland Adventist Academy. This year alone you sponsored two college students and two academy students, young people that wouldn’t be able to be in a Christian school without your help, and it was your greatest joy to do so.
• You loved serving people. One of your greatest joys was having family and friends to your home for dinner. You kept a guest book and some years you’d have over 500 people for dinner. Last month you hosted the LLU School of Health reunion at our home here in Portland. You loved cooking, setting a beautiful table - complete with flower arrangements from your own garden - and being a gracious host.
• You loved your family and spent much of your time caring for us, feeding us, planning excursions and picnics, making your famous potato salad, leading family hikes in the Columbia Gorge, getting tickets for all of us to attend the Singing Christmas Tree and numerous other special events throughout the year. You made each holiday special. You made our lives rich with your love of life and service to others.
• You loved holding your grandchildren, reading them Bible stories, praying for them that they would grow up to love Jesus as you did, and starting an educational endowment for each grandchild the year they were born.
Thank you, Phyllis, for being such a wonderful mother, wife, grandmother, friend, business women, and most of all a companion. You’ve been a great blessing to my life, your family, and many, many others. I will miss you greatly, but you will ever be in my heart. Your life lives on in the lives of your family, grand children, and friends you’ve helped during your life and I can’t wait until I can take your hands in mine again and hold you tight on that beautiful resurrection morning. I love you dearly. Goodbye my love.
Donnie