A sad end to the missing hikers story, but closure for their families

I have a couple of sad stories today...

First, the young couple that went missing from Joshua Tree National Park have been found, their bodies in an embrace, not far from the trail that they were on.  The young man's father has been out every weekend for 3 months assisting searchers and looking for his son.  At least now the family has some closure.  They were both only 20 years old.  I remember that a couple of days after they went missing, the park got a lot of rainfall and the search dogs couldn't find their scent.  Search parties went out for a long time after that, but the rains washed away any scent or tracks.

Here's a link to one of the stories:    http://www.kesq.com/news/female-missing-hikers-family-releases-first-public-statement/640045977

The second story involves a young man who was a student of mine...let's see..29 years ago.  I remember Garrett in 4th grade...small, skinny, lithe, with a smile that lit up his whole face.  We called him, "Taco" back then.  His sister, who is 2 years older than him, often came into my room and I had to shoo her out!  He was a friendly, outgoing boy then and when he grew up, he started his own trucking business and moved out of the valley to Missouri.  When the California fires started, Garrett was involved as a firefighter.  He was always looking for ways to help people.

Unfortunately, he was driving a water truck at 7 a.m. one morning, assisting with the firefighting efforts,  and it overturned on the Oakville Grade (a HORRIBLE, winding road), and was killed. Once I saw his name on the Facebook story, I broke into tears.  This was a decent, honorable young man who was assisting the firefighting effort.  I ran into Garrett a couple of times because his godmother was boarding my horse at that time.  He was a fine young man.

Here is his story on the local news:     http://www.kesq.com/news/firefighter-originally-from-mecca-dies-in-wine-country-fires/639920253

We had an absolutely beautiful, gorgeous, bright sunrise this morning and I would like to think this was Garrett shining down from the heavens.  RIP young man.  Why do the good die so young?

So, it is with a heavy heart that I begin this day...
Take care and give your loved ones a hug today.
~Cheryl Ann~