Marshall's Car

Mom took this picture of Marshall soon after he bought his car.

Mason and I had quite an adventure the past two days! After the Army Memorial Service for Marshall in Fort Hood on Thursday morning, Mason and I drove up to Dallas to pick up Marshall's Toyota MR2 that had been there for a few months. Marshall had a new engine put in it with turbo, a turbo timer, some new stuff for the clutch, and I don't know what else. Well, when we got to the mechanic, he said it still wasn't ready and to come back in a few hours. Right. So Mace and I got dinner together and saw a movie (Night in the Museum - pretty good), and then called him back around 8pm since we hadn't heard from him yet. He said he would call us back in 20 min. Nope. After sitting in the parking lot of the movie theatre for an hour, we decided to make our way over to the shop. Well he ended up working on it really late, so we called up a friend and he let us stay with him at his parents' house! The mechanic said he would work on it through the night and we could pick it up in the morning. In the morning we went to the shop at around 10:30, and, surprisingly, he was almost done with it. We finally left Dallas at around noon that day, with the car! I had fun driving around Dallas, getting lost, and hanging out with Mason. I like adventures. I only wish this didn't have to be done under these circumstances. The car is a sharp reminder of Marshall and who he was.

More later.
Heidi

Army Memorial Service

The Army is having a special memorial service just for Marshall next week. It is so late because November 22 marked the beginning of their holiday, so they had to schedule it later in January. The memorial service is this Thursday, January 11, at 10:00am at Fort Hood. We need to know as soon as possible if you plan on attending because the Army needs to know how many seats to reserve for us. I will be there with the rest of my family (except Hannah). You can reply to this post or email Dad or me.

I hope you all had a merry Christmas. This was a hard one for us but it was good. I hope to update you all soon.

Love,
Heidi

Getting Better All The Time

A common activity for Mace: playing Ricky's Wii that he graciously left for him until he comes back to Austin for Christmas.

Mason’s condition continues to improve. He went to the outpatient burn clinic on Saturday and had hardly any debridement at all. Mom said they basically did the same thing she does at home (which includes cleaning the wounds, applying ointment, and wrapping in bandages). They want Mason to come back next Saturday, but Dad said they probably won’t go because he doesn’t think it is necessary unless Mom needs more supplies or something. He only has bandages on his lower right leg now and has been up and about more often. He uses crutches but today he has been walking a little bit without them! It is like a “sliding limp” - I don’t really know what to call it – but I think the fact that he has started moving without crutches is great no matter how it looks! :-) He says he has to get better for his soccer game on January 4th – umm, I don’t think that is going to happen. I think he says it half-jokingly. That has been one thing really amazing about this whole thing: Mason has been so light-hearted and cheerful! I can’t imagine what it would be like if we were all emotionally exhausted AND Mason would be down or irritable or something. But he is always making us laugh by his jokes and witty comments. It is such a joy for me to be at home with my family during this time. I am almost done with finals; my last one is on Tuesday at 2pm and I have been studying a lot for it. I have to pass it to pass the class, so yeah, that is something you can pray for me.

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog and also to those who post comments. I think it has been something that has helped me in the healing process as it gives me an outlet to share how I am feeling. Knowing that people care about me and my family is so comforting. I thank my God for you!

Love,
Heidi

Marshall's Maple

Today we planted a Bigtooth Maple tree in our backyard in memory of Marshall. It has a few yellow leaves on it right now but in the spring it will have green leaves, which will hopefully turn bright red in the fall. For the past two days Madison has been working on the place in the yard for the tree. He took down a section of our fence (we eventually want to put a chain-link fence in the back so that we can see people playing soccer or whatever in the way-back), moved the sand box into the shed, and dug a big hole for the tree. Here are some photos of Derek and Dad working on planting it.

They cut the plastic tree pot with a little hand saw because they couldn't pull the tree out.

They later resorted to an electric saw for the bottom of the pot.

All planted and watered.

Love,
Heidi

Ben's Words at Marshall's Funeral

When I first heard the news, I couldn’t believe it. It is hard to imagine a world without such an amazing friend by my side, much less to accept it as reality.

It's kind of funny, but my best memory of him is the only time we ever fought. It was in paintball and he had a new gun which seemed to just fire all the time. He had tagged me, but didn’t hear me call myself out, so he just kept shooting. Well, I got pretty mad and we ended up about four feet away from each other still shooting, and in a lot of pain. I still have scars from that. But I think it showed how strong our friendship was, because we always looked back on that and laughed.

Although I mourn his absence, I now understand the true nature of heaven and its eternal joy, for in the face of death, one thought shines through: the face of Marshall within heaven’s gates, welcoming me at last to my home.

- Ben Lopez, November 29, 2006

Family Update

Hi, Everyone,

Things are not changing as rapidly as they have been for the past few weeks. With Mason being home now, things seems a tiny but more "normal" but it will never feel the same. Last night we had dinner together as family (well, without Hannah and Marshall of course) for the first time in a really, really long time. I like routine, and having meals together at home really refreshes me.

Madison's school is letting him off for the rest of the month! It was hard for him to focus on school and we would love to have him home.

Mason is doing well. Mom does his dressing changes in the morning. He goes to outpatient on Saturday. He still can't put any weight on his right foot, but he is getting proficient with his crutches. He went up and down the stairs twice yesterday!

I have been trying to be faithful with my school work; Derek has been a huge help and supporter to me in that. I took a performance exam yesterday, I have a final tomorrow, a make-up test on Friday, and then my last final is next Tuesday, the 19th. Sometimes it is hard to focus on studying, but I really want to get this semester over with so I can move on and have my Christmas break.

Hannah has called frequently and is really busy with catching up in school and work. I can't wait to see her when she comes back to Austin for Christmas! I miss her so much.

Mom is starting to cook and clean and do her mom things again ... when she made my lunch for me last week I knew she was doing well. :-) Christmas has been a huge issue to work through ... none of us felt like we wanted to have Christmas this year. But after talking about it together, we decided to try to do things as normally as possible. I offered to help Mom with Christmas decorations and such ... I think Derek and I are going to try to get a tree on Friday. It is hard to go on, but I think doing at least some of our Christmas traditions this year as family will help in the healing process. Plus, we don't want to skip out on celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Dad is glad he doesn't have to work for the rest of the year. He has a long to-do list but he is so faithful to do the tasks set before him. Mom said to us kids yesterday, "You guys don't even realize how most guys are not like this." Dad always called it the "do-it-now principle" and he lives his life by it.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, notes, calls, and gifts. God is faithful and He continues to sustain us.

Love,
Heidi


P.S. If you have any questions, or want me to update you on something specific, just make a comment to this post or email me or something. :-)

Mason is going home!!!

Mason got discharged today! His wound care this morning went really well, and they only bandaged his lower right leg and his left ankle; the rest they left open to air. His IV was discontinued and he has a prescription for oral pain medication. I am so excited to have him home! It will be nice to be together at home instead of back and forth from the hospital. He will stay downstairs on the fold-out couch and can use crutches to get around. He will go to the outpatient burn center at Brackenridge on Sunday and probably every few days after that. Mom will do his dressing changes and help with his mobility. I hope I can help too.

Praise God for his quick recovery and that he can go home today. Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Love,
Heidi

No More Meals

The Hagens are going back home today and Mason will be staying downstairs. So, Kristin will be able to cook in the kitchen and is looking forward to it. With that we will not be providing anymore meals to the Hagens.

Thank you everybody who provided a meal and everybody who offered to help. The outpouring of people willing to serve was enormous and very encouraging.

Mason is Leaving the Hospital

The hospital is releasing Mason sometime this afternoon. He was able to handle his wound care with oral pain medication, so he can continue that care at home.

He will be going back to his house today to continue recovering there (with some visits to the hospital). Please pass on the news to anybody who is planning on going by the hospital soon.

Letters from Marshall's Army Commanders

A Captain and a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army both wrote letters to us about Marshall. They both knew him personally and their words were so uplifting. Here are a few excerpts.

"Marshall was a true hero who loved being in a Cavalry Squadron and it showed in everything he did. Throughout our tour in Iraq, Marshall performed exemplary and was always willing to execute the most dangerous missions. He often spoke of being back from Iraq and spending time with family and friends. Marshall was mature and reliable for his years and as a young Specialist he was already doing a Sergeant's job by taking care of and counseling all of the younger Soldiers in his section. He inspired us all to strive to be the best that we could."

- James J. Love
Lieutenant Colonel, Armor
Commanding

"Marshall has provided inspirational leadership to this troop as well as anyone else he has come into contact while he was a Buffalo Soldier. A true professional, he set the example for all other Soldiers to follow in both words and deeds. Marshall was a great person to be around. He was one of the Soldiers that everyone liked. Marshall was deeply religious with a strong moral center. He truly enjoyed being in Crazy Horse Troop. I will miss him dearly. … I just want you to know that Marshall was not only an outstanding Soldier, but he was a good man."

- Kevin W. Brown
Captain, Armor
Crazy Horse Troop Commander