The Sparkle Queen's Awsome Home Page

Renee created several web sites in her early teens including The Sparkle Queen and The Butterfly's Paradise. It will take you an hour to read all her original poetry, and other things about herself. She wrote in html code long before I knew what that was. She had several email addresses and corresponded with a lot of people. I know she had another site that contained her other writings, but I have not yet found that page.

She also wrote the first LifeLight website.

Click on the above links - I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Nothing more to say

Today it is 1 year since we traveled to Vancouver after confirmation of the leukemia relapse diagnosis, and 8 months since the day Renee died. One year ago Renee wrote in her diary, "There is nothing more to say"
--
Raymond & Martha Dueck
http://www.marthadueck.com/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=718265973
http://www.reneedueck.com/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=747310337
http://www.raymonddueck.com/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=678938831

New York City AGAIN!

Why do we keep doing that to ourselves? It seems we could not drive past New York without going into that wonderful city again. Guess what we did first? We went to Renee's favorite restaurant. Did we meet Renee there? Maybe? But we did NOT see her. The seat she sat in is empty.

Then we met with Trinity asst Pastor James Leonard for coffee, and then with Dr O'Reilley and then with Chaplain Jane Mather. They were all so good to talk to. So healing.

After that we went to Central Park for photo therapy and supper at The Boathouse Restaurant. Then off to PHL to catch the morning flight. When we got to MSP, NWA put us on this prop job and 2/3 of the way to GFK they decided they needed to turn around and take us all back to MSP just because a little light in the cockpit was ON! We got home at 10pm.

Now it's back to work!

Halifax and Cape Breton Island

We finally arrived in Halifax. So good to see and spend time with Kara again. I had missed her so!

We went to the park close to her place and then drove to Fortress Louisburg, the largest historic reconstruction in North America. When the British conquored the fort they hired demolition experts to blow up miles of fortified walls and 100s of buildings, to make sure the French would never again rebuild it. In the 60s the Cndn gov't decided to spend megamillions rebuilding 1/6 of it. So a few people would come and admire the rebuilding job.

Cape Breton is the world's premier Celtic region, and they had their concluding concert featuring Rita McNeil on Saturday. We tried to get tickets, but they were VERY sold out. So we had a nice meal instead. Sunday we drove to a small start up church in Glace Bay for the service and saw the Marconi historic site before heading back to Halifax. Our final supper with Kara was at Thai restaurant. Renee was there in spirit.

Seek First the Kingdom

Glace Bay Lighthouse Church.
Silence is hard. It is easier to work than to trust God.
A man found a treasure, buried it, and bought the field. So he could own the treasure. He did not steal it.
Some people say I know for sure that there is no God. Others say I know everything about God. Both are arrogant.
The man bought the whole field because he thought the whole field is full of the treasures of God. That's how we should be. Open your Bible and discover God's field of treasures.

RI Narringasett, MA Hyannis

From NJ we headed out to RI and visited 3 of 4 locations Renee's FaceBook shows as places she has been to. I wish I knew exactly where she was. On the beach at Narringasett, they are building a memorial circle, and anyone can place engraved bricks into the circle. What should this one say?
Renee Dueck
1984-2008
TheWaveUSA
YWAM Tour 05
That might work. Max 2 lines 11 characters per line.

Today we retraced more of Renee's trip, and had lunch in Hyannis, Mass, and stopped in Plymouth and Boston. Click here for more pics.
We went to Acapulcos Mexican restaurant with Robert, Maria, & Patrick. So good to see them again. They went to the SCIDS conference in Wintergreen Virginia. Twas a good experience for them. I showed them how to start blogging. http://www.agitfamily.blogspot.com/ should find them.

Tomorrow we'd like to get to Halifax. kinda tired of moving in and out of hotels every day. The Sheraton we are in charges extra for internet in the room, so I'm sitting in the lobby because it's free here!

Monday - Canadian Thanksgiving

We got invited to a Canadian Thanksgiving meal with our long time email friend Marleen and her husband in West Milford. This is truly beautiful country. See more pics here.

Silent Grief

I'm sitting under the trees at this table blogging and doing emails during a break in this great conference. About a dozen people from around the U.S and this one couple from Canada. We are learning that it is OK to be raw. To say things similar to what King David said to and about God when you go through agony, pain, and grief.

After this is done we plan to drive to Halifax, visiting frinds along the way in NJ and NY and Boston. The aim is to celebrate thanksgiving with Karalee next Sunday. We plan to be home on the 22nd.

This leaf landed in a hard place. More Pictures here

Martha's pictures are better than mine.. click here

Root Canal

I called this morning and asked for an appointment. They fit me in at 12:15 with Dr Brant Toy. I was afraid of the pain. But Dr Toy is very skilled and the only time I felt a teeny bit of pain, was when he started to scrape the nerves out of the root canal. As soon as he noticed me tensing up, he injected freezing right into the canal and there was NO MORE pain. It took about one hour. An hour after the procedure, the freezing was out, and again no more pain. These people really do their best to make an unpleasant situation as pleasant as possible. They have soft lighting and soft music. Everything is so nice, it is easy to relax. So next time you need a root canal, I invite you to enjoy it!

A Grief Observed

by C. S. Lewis
No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear... At other times like being drunk or concussed. there is sort of an invisible blanket between me and the world. I find it hard to take in what anyone says. Or perhaps, hard to want to take it in. It is so uninteresting... no one told me about the laziness of grief... I loathe the slightest effort. Not only writing, but even reading is too much. Even shaving... what does it matter how I look...
Meanwhile where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms... when you are happy... you feel welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate... what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and the sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside... after that, silence.
Is God a clown who whips away your bowl of soup one moment to replace it with another the next?