This and That

Don Shirrell

Monday afternoon the headline in my feedreader drew my attention: Two dead in Aurora head-on collision.

Was anyone I know involved?

So I clicked.

A head-on collision killed two drivers, including a Molalla firefighter, Monday near the 13500 block of Ehlen Road.

Veronica F. Flores, 28, of Salem was eastbound in her white Honda Accord about 4:30 p.m. when the car crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into a Northwest Natural Gas Co. van driven by Molalla firefighter Donald L. Shirrell, 43, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

Shirrell.

The name jumped out at me.

Probably not the one I know.

(As I recall the original story didn’t mention his being a firefighter with Molalla FD.)

But several hours later I got the email that informed it was the one I knew.

We attended the same school (Elliott Prairie Christian School) though he was a classmate with my sister while three of his siblings (John, Don, Teresa) were my classmates.

Ruby and I attended his funeral yesterday.

The toughest parts for me were when…

  • The big group of girls from his daughter’s dance team all filed past the casket, each leaving a flower (a rose, it appeared from my distance). I pray at least one of their lives will be affected for good in the kingdom of God.
  • The people from the Molalla Fire Department formed up along each side of the aisle the casket was taken from the auditorium. First lots and lots of first responders exited the building down that aisle while the MFD stood at attention and in frozen salute. Then the honor guards and casket and families.

May God sustain and draw to Himself those grieving ones (including those affected by Veronica’s death).

Oh, I was also impressed that the chaplain, in both of his prayers, prayed in Jesus’ Name.

I took a few photos. The little ones are actually screen captures from video; they’re not clickable. The one of Don I did not take. Read it all

Pray for My Young Friend

He’s 24 or 25 years old with a wife and three children. He lives in northwest Mexico. I’ve known him since (his) babyhood. His initials are GS.

He has been trying to get help for his back injury from the government hospital. (Such help is supposed to be facilitated by and paid for by his employer.) Neither has been helpful, at least not much at all.

So, after receiving a money gift from up here, he set out to get some tests and opinions from a private (as opposed to a government) specialist.

The specialist can’t proceed without some sort of signed paper from the government hospital. GS went to get that on Monday.

As I understand it, when the government hospital/doctor learned why GS wanted that paper, they changed their tune and said they would help him. (Apparently, the private doctor could get them in big trouble for not helping him.)

So GS was admitted to the government hospital on Monday. He’s still there. He’s afraid of the notorious carelessness and cold-heartedness of so many doctors and nurses in that system. In an earlier “event” with them a year or more ago, they worked on one of his fingers and left it worse. Understandably, he’s very leery of them working on his back (or ruptured disc or cracked vertebra or whatever the issue is).

I texted him for more details a few minutes ago, also asking how he wants us to be praying for him. Here’s my translation of his reply:

It looks like they are going to do some tests on my spine to learn what really is my problem. Pray that God would show Himself in all this.

Thanks,
Mark

Tips: Back Seat Driving

How to be the good kind of back seat driver

Ever pressed that imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side? Do you often feel your blood pressure rising as you sit powerless at the mercy of an inferior driver? How come, when you point out an obvious error, drivers always repay you with annoyance?

Believe it or not, no matter how frustrated you feel, your driver feels equally frustrated, if not more. Here are some ways to become a better backseat driver.

[…]

There’s nothing wrong with vigilance as a passenger. In fact, keeping an eye on the road makes the road a safer place. “Back seat driver” is a generally negative label these days, but you can turn those negatives into positives by offering constructive advice at proper times, in a way that also conveys some appreciation.

The author makes some good points. Be sure to check out the full article.

Promises

I was acquainting myself with some of what’s new at the White House. Virtually, that is. On their Web site. And I came across this gem:

Well, that seemed kinda tacky and tactless and hardly in keeping with any kind of reconciliation and civility and statesmanship and bipartisanship and postpartisanship and blah, blah, blah. 🙄

So I got curious about what other promises (current or broken) I might turn up there using their search feature. Well, a search for the term promises turned up this:

What’s with that?! That’s not a very helpful search feature. Well, I decided to see if Google could do better:

Maybe the techno gurus who run whitehouse.gov need to use the powered by Google option, if nothing else. 😀

Then I remembered seeing a headline that might explain the faulty search feature on the White House site:

Oh, “it’s all Bush’s fault.”

Well, that’s just how the game is played I guess. Nothing seems to have changed in that regard. 🙂

I know, I know. There are weightier things going on there. But a little low-key levity seems in order. 😆

And if the BDS2-afflicted conspiracy cooks want to use my discovery as proof of less-than-the-promised-transparency…too bad I helped. :mrgreen:

Seriously, though, an appeal to President Obama: More magnanimity, please. Sow it, reap it — sounds like a good deal to me, sir.

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Above all, love God!