Ferguson Family: Uncle Mike

On New Years Eve I got news that I instantly knew was bad. I just didn't know who it was about. I was rocking Grant to sleep and the other two were already in bed when I got a missed call from my dad. I always ignore calls when I'm putting the baby down and thought I'll just call him in a second. I did think it was a little strange because it was a little late for a phone call. At this point it was somewhere around nine forty five at night. Soon after I got another missed call but this time it was from my brother Jacob. That's when I first felt that something was wrong. Yes it was a holiday and one where it's very normal and even expected for people to stay awake until midnight but I still felt that this wasn't a happy holiday chat waiting to happen. I sent a message to Danny telling him that I got missed calls and that I was feeling a little bit nervous about it. At first Danny assured me that it probably wasn't anything serious. I then got a text message from my brother Lamoni asking if I had talked to our dad and that's when my suspicions were confirmed that something had happened to someone in the family. While I was messaging Lamoni I then heard again from Danny and this time he told me that my dad had also called him and told him that he had hard news to share but wanted us both together so to call him back once I was out after getting Grant to sleep.

I could have walked out of Grant's room right then but I didn't. Instead I stayed in the nursery rocking my baby for the next forty five minutes just sitting with my thoughts before I went out to make that phone call back to my dad. My thoughts were all over the place as I sat and thought of all the different scenarios and who it could possibly be about. The truth is that I wasn't surprised that something had happened. It is very very likely that I'll be getting a few hard calls in this new year alone. I knew that it wasn't my brother Jacob because he had attempted to call me and it wasn't Lamoni either. I worried that it could have been Pollyanna because we are always in contact and I hadn't heard from her yet. I worried that it could be my mom and that something had happened to her. I thought of Ammon and what possible trouble he could have found himself in as well as my other brother Moroni. The two people that I thought of the most however was my brother Abe and my sister Camila. Both are not doing great health wise and will likely not live long lives. I'll explain more about Camila in a future blog post. I finally got the courage to walk out and discover which of my family members the news was about.

It wasn't about anyone that I had just spent the last forty five minutes thinking of. It was my Uncle Mike. He had passed away after a freak accident. He had spent the day skiing with his family when he lost control after swerving out of someone's way and found himself hitting a tree. He died on impact at the ski resort with his family there. He was just two weeks away from leaving to serve a mission with my aunt Kendra in the Philippines for our church. He's now serving a different kind of mission on the other side. When I first heard the news I wasn't sure what to feel. I felt sad for his family. I felt peace because I know where his righteous life has led him. I also felt like I was given a second chance to spend more time with the people I thought of because they are still here and alive. It was a unique situation because since I had ignored the calls I was able to sit and prepare myself to receive the news instead of being completely shocked had I just answered the phone when it first rang. I also felt grateful that my last interaction with my Uncle Mike was just days before Christmas at the family party where we were able to congratulate him and talk to him about his call to the Philipines. That's the country that Danny had served in and it was now a cool connection they would both have. He may not have a physical name tag on his chest right now but he is definitely being a representative of Jesus Christ where he is at now.

Uncle Mike I love you and I know that your adventurous legacy will live on.