Category: Independence Valley & New Pursuits

My husband and I found out we were pregnant a month after we moved to Olympia.  We had moved 3 days drive from family to take a good job raising seeds for a local non-profit.  It was a big move, but it would give us the money we’d need to afford to have a family.

As time went by I became more pregnant and we started earnestly looking for a house- a place to raise a family.  What we fell in love with, a beautiful property at the base of the Black Hills, was a tear-down house, just west of Olympia.  We dove in, head over heels (assuming life would settle swiftly once we had a child), signing the papers on my daughters due date, just as I was about to burst.

When our daughter arrived, a few days later, we realized just how much we would need to do to move in, and time was of the essence, we could not pay rent and mortage for more than a month or two: the floor joists were rotten, as was the back wall, there was no place to bathe in the “bathroom,” the roof was leaky, there were layers of asbestos flooring under moldy carpet, the sink counters were full of mold, not to mention the need for a good coat of paint, and a way to heat the house.  It was going to be an undertaking!  Sierra had a volunteer crew that showed up to help with native prairie plants at his workplace, and that is how we met Betsie and Gregory.

When they heard we had found a house and were planning to move in asap, they offered to come “help.”  After that first Saturday, they came back again the next day, the next weekend and nearly every weekend after that for nearly two months.  Betsie would hold the baby (Gwynnevere is now 12) while I scrubbed and painted.  Gregory helped tear out the sink and replace the pipes, “Oh we can figure that out,” was a common refrain as he talked my husband through project after project.  Sometime the second month I was staring exhausted at the back wall, Gregory came up and said “What still needs to be done?”  I pointed at the hole in the wall where the window had been.  Gregory said “Well I’m no carpenter, but I can help out.” and he proceeded to frame in a new window, right there on the spot.

It was as if we had won the jackpot-not our house, but these two amazing individuals (angels, really) were determined to help us feel loved and a valuable part of the community, worth investing into.  It was such a special feeling, the way they worked together, chided each other, and helped the rest of us get through tough times.

I remember after we settled into our house and life with baby, a work colleague had a baby.  I remember how much I felt ease in offering help to her–it was as if Gregory and Betsie had filled us up with so much love, we had abundant cups, ready to share.

We are so indebted to you both!  Gregory certainly lives on in our lives-when we open the windows, & turn on the tap or use the old table saw he gifted us, it’s as if he’s here again smiling “it’ll be ok….”

Eowyn Smith

I am unsure how long I have known Gregory as we met when I was a child and at that point every one is just old to you even though I now realize he was was likely quite young when we met.

Gregory was part of my beloved Independence Valley farm community.

He was there along side Betsie at every potluck, birthday party, game night, dance party, natural disaster/flooding clean up and other events. I grew up playing in his back yard, waving at him on the porch, wandering through his barn, wandering into the house often unannounced just dropping by on a neighbor.  I never thought about where he came from or that one day he would die. He was one with the Valley, ever living, ever there changing with each season.

I remember learning he had a life out side the valley and was dear friends with Debby and Keith ( who lived in Olympia) who were my friends! I Remember finding out as a young adult that Keith and Gregory had been friends for years and that their children were friends. I had known both these people for years and never had a clue. I was shocked but also delighted.

Betsie and Gregory invited me and my friend Cylas to go back packing when I was in my teens. What a blast. I slid down a snow bank twice. I have no clue if I scared my chaperones, looking back that must have been scary but they played it cool. if there are pictures from that time I do not have any. (Bets here: I found one! It’s below.) We hid in our tent from mosquitos playing cards!

My memory’s are so fond of  that time. I remember thinking, “The Valley  grandparents are so cool.” I never told Gregory that I sort of thought of him in this way.

It’s only been in the last two years that I have gone from relating to Gregory almost as if he was part  of the land  and me just a little fuzzy animal also on the land. This came when I invited him to both my wedding and baby shower. We got to be two humans for those last two years.

I was so overjoyed that Gregory came to my wedding. He and Betsie danced so hard, what a young spirit he has.

I did not get to see Gregory at my baby shower because he died right before we had it. Now my baby boy sits in our living room enjoying the beautiful mobile that Gregory and Betsie made for him.

Miss you, thanks for being one of the people who helped raise me in the valley.

River

 

 

We (mostly I, ever the planner) often speculated about our future. What would he or I do if the other died first? The big question was always, “Would we move to town for greater access to activities without the 40-minute drive?”  This idea was even a consideration if, as a couple, we found driving or taking care of our home and yard difficult. Then last February I vividly remember saying to him, “Why would we move to town? We have this house just the way we want it?” Our kitchen is easy to work in. He has installed fun quirky things at my request such as towel racks made from scrap pipes in the bathroom inspired by the Olympic Club women’s restroom. Shelves and tables he custom-built to fit small spaces and hold our drinks, glasses, and phones while we play Wingspan. A bin to hold our yoga mats made with salvaged maple flooring and clothesline cord. An outdoor clothesline on pulleys because I LOVE to hang laundry from the porch like they did in the “old days.”  Cork floor installed back in 2011, which is when he had his first and ONLY symptoms of coronary artery disease. Solar panels on the roof. His shop where a collection of cast-off power tools are shared with our local community. Even a foundation high enough (hopefully) to be above ANYTHING the Chehalis River can throw at us as we’ve raised it not once, but twice, and can now easily access the under belly of our house.

This house and farm, where I have lived for 42 years, is a comfort to me – filled with so many fond memories of the life we built together.

Bonus photo: Gregory hung the pepper necklace on the osprey to dry.  It was some days before I noticed.

Life as a Semicolon

The website of Project Semicolon reads, “A semicolon is used when an author could have chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to.” To me, this is kind of a metaphor for life. So often when we encounter difficult situations, it can appear easier to dismiss them or push them aside, but like when we write, we can choose to apply a semicolon to our lives and continue on. More on this in a minute.

Bets, Gregory, Miles and I – we four shared so many adventures together. Along the way, G introduced me to cryptic crossword puzzles.  A cryptic puzzle is a crossword puzzle in which each clue contains another level of word puzzle. They are freaking hard, and especially at first, only felt possible when we worked on them together. We kind of had to sneak away to pursue this nerdy passion, stealing time from group activity, mechanical pencils in hand, avoiding the (semi) good natured eye rolling of our respective partners. Our favorite puzzles always contained this sentence in their instructions: “As always, mental repunctuation of a clue is the key to its solution.”

The last puzzle we did together was completed on the night he left us. Throughout that day, we texted back and forth madly with various clue revelations, and at one point he left me a message:

And just before 6 p.m., we finished.

So where does the repunctuation metaphor come in? I choose not to end the sentence that included G. I will apply the semicolon to try to make sense of life and continue on. I’ve solved my first puzzle alone in honor of G and our shared wacky hobby; it was extra freaking hard and took a long time. I like to think that when I filled the last squares, he sent me a cosmic “bravo” and a high five.

Ami

A rare photo of these three fun guys (1 fungi x 3) at Chris’s daughter’s wedding in Chico summer of 2023.

The writings in the tab at the top of this website are a result of many long hours Gregory put into a class he took from his long time friend Keith Eisner in the fall and winter of 2024/25.  He put many long hours into getting his thoughts on paper and got immense satisfaction in sharing the process with his classmates.

Kim, Cassidy, and I had taken the train up from Davis, Ca to Centralia, Wa. This might have been the first time Gregory met Cassidy, the beginning of many fun times together!

I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy! I remember learning this song early in our relationship to him. It was so true and still is today.  It’s from the movie South Pacific.  My mom loved it so I grew up listening to it. 

(This is me when I was young. haha!.)