Almost 50 Years and Counting
As the Saxowskys were returning home from
Europe, Gail received a message that her mother was not doing well, but
she didn't want to go to the hospital until Gail got home. During the
next month Gail drove the hundred miles from Jamestown to Fargo at least
once a week. In the middle of February Ellen died peacefully as she rested
and Gail, Marilyn, Gail's sister and Denvy sat in attendance. Marc spent
his 21st birthday at his grandmother's funeral.
The reason for moving to North Dakota was
to be there to care for Gail's mother. They did that. Denvy made no promises
to stay at Jamestown College for a long time but he did promise three
years and three years were up. It was time to move on. Oregon was the
target destination.
Job
applications were out and interview trips were taken. Gail got the first
offer and with Marc found a mobile home with garage and barn in the foothills
of the coastal range. On July 3 Denvy and Gail arrived in Independence,
Oregon, with Denvy's mother, who was along just for the ride, a rental
moving van, the car in tow and the pickup with the trailer. Becky
stayed in Jamestown. On the fourth, they watched the famous Monmouth Fourth
of July parade, the mini-marathon which included their realtor, and ate
homemade ice cream at the park.
During the summer before Gail started her
job as 
clinical
instructor for the paramedic program at Chemeketa Community College, they
gathered some supplies for their new home and started sprucing up the
yard, which they considered Eden: fruit trees, garden, flowers, lawn,
mature Douglas fir and white oak, a pond and a swamp. Denvy flew to Alaska,
rented a moving van and gathered the last of their possessions in Trapper
Creek.
That fall Denvy received a phone call from the Homecoming committee inviting
him to come for Homecoming because they were going to dedicate Homecoming
to him. So Gail and Denvy jumped in the car, drove for 26 hours, spent
most of Saturday at the college and drove back so Gail could be at work
on Monday.