I Need a Hero

Dr. President at the trek site.  

August 25

Before the night of the 25^th was over, Todd had the foresight to ask Dr. President to prescribe me a sleeping pill.  Dr. President called in that prescription.  He knows of my sleeping problems when I get overly anxious.  He learned all about that side of me in June this past summer.

Two years ago I was visiting with President Stolworthy to renew my Temple Recommend.  After we finished the interview he asked me if I would accept the assignment to chair a pioneer trek for the youth of our stake.  I gladly accepted.  President asked me to think about a co-chair and before I even left him that night I asked if it would be possible to have Todd as my co-chair. Todd had served as our stake president and during his tenure his plans for a trek were to his disappointment, dashed.  I knew his heart would be in this from the word go. I raced home to tell Doug about the trek and my new exciting assignment.  Pioneer trek reenactments are a Latter Day Saint youth activity.  These activities are designed so the youth can experience firsthand the faith and determination of the pioneers.  When I told Doug about the assignment he asked me if I felt overwhelmed.  I said I didn’t, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, would it?  He replied, “It’s like girls’ camp. Except you get up and move the entire camp every day. Oh, and you have to bring the boys too.”  I swallowed hard and at that moment realized the magnitude of the assignment I had just accepted. 

After some significant work locating a trek location and getting approval Todd and I were ready to create our committee. President Jones, the stake second counselor, was assigned to be our go to guy.  As we crafted a list of names to submit to the stake we spoke about each of the men and women we were requesting be a part of the momentous event.  When it came to our medical chair both Todd and I agreed Bishop Lee Reese would be the right man for the job. I had very little interaction with Bishop Reese up until this point.  I knew of him from my days as YCL leader and Millie had interacted with him as a member of the youth committee, but mostly I knew his sweet wife.  Cathy was a teacher like me and she had also worked in staff development for years.  I told Todd that I didn’t really know Lee, but loved his wife.  Todd laughed and said because of his busy schedule as a surgeon for many years lots of people only knew Lee as "Cathy Reese’s  husband".  Todd shared with me his love for this great man and further assured me that despite his insanely busy schedule he would likely be the one person who attended every meeting. He did attend every meeting and often arrived in scrubs, racing in form the hospital. 

The next year of planning consisted of monthly committee meetings in which lots of discussion took place as to how we could best pull of such an event. At Thanksgiving time I remember telling Doug that I felt like the trek was ready to go.  I remember telling him there  would still be some intricacies that would require much attention, but the big stuff was pretty much in the bag.  The trek was ready to go and if something should happen that I couldn’t be part of it, I could hand it over to another person and it would be just fine. 
In early December of 2015, President Jones called me and instructed me to stop planning for the trek for the time being.  I was broken hearted.  We had heard rumors that there would be changes in our stake, but they were just that, rumors.  Members of our stake and of another stake were asked to attend a meeting in which new ward and stake boundaries would be announced.  The week before we met I ran into Cathy Reese at Target.  It was good to catch up with her.  We talked about kids, school and the likelihood of a new stake. Our conversation in the aisle between the brightly colored sports bras turned to the youth trek.  At this point I had anticipated our new Stake would not be participating. We talked about the many hours of work that had been put in and the unlikely chance a new stake would still be part of the event. Little did either of us  know at that time that her family would soon find out the Lord had some big plans for her husband.   Stake Conference that week found her bearing her testimony as the wives of newly called presidency members do.  Our new stake leaders had their work cut out for them.  Making numerous callings, arranging meeting times, planning the year's activities are just a small part of all that needs to be done when a new stake is formed.  Sunday night after our first official meeting as the Shadow Mountain Stake I got a call from newly ordained President Reese.  "Is your husband home and would it be alright for me to drop by in just a little bit?"  I had a feeling I knew why.  Sure enough he sat down with us and asked if I was willing to continue in my role as trek chairperson.  He said they weren't yet sure exactly how it would work between the two stakes, but that we would figure it out as we went forward.  After that night my point person for the trek was President Reese.  Over the next six months I texted, emailed and spoke with him regularly.  His attention to detail regarding the ins and outs of the trek astounded me.  We had hundreds of people in two stakes attending the trek and somehow he could remember each name and each assignment without referring to his notes. I mentioned his somewhat peculiar ability and attention to detail to Doug who said, "Well he is a surgeon.  If he was operating on you you would be extremely grateful for that  don't you think?"  I agreed and we both laughed, never imagining that one day soon I would close my eyes in an operating room with him standing over me.  As the trek date drew near I found myself having daily conversations with this busy  man and growing more and more fond of him and his leadership style.  How lucky I was to call him my friend. 

The trek was finally upon us.  Like I mentioned earlier I can have problems with sleep.  I work myself up into a frenzy.  I do that thing in which I look at the clock every few minutes and calculate exactly how much sleep I will get if I were to fall asleep at exactly that moment.  It's embarrassing really.  This happens to me every year the night before the first day of school.  Occasionally it'll happen a few days in a row but on those sleepless nights I am home and can busy myself into the wee hours reading or writing, even cooking.  The night before we left Las Vegas for the trek I was up all night.  Literally, all night.  I told Doug and prayed that our first night at the trek site I would be so exhausted I would just pass out when I crawled into my sleeping bag.  The staff arrived at the trek site in Mosida, Utah a day before the youth and the Mas and Pas.  We worked hard- so hard, all day preparing for the arrival of our 300 or so trekkers.That night, even though I was exhausted when the staff all slipped into our tents at about 1:00 AM  I knew I was sunk.  I had taken a Tylenol PM and instead of feeling drowsy I felt like I had just slammed a few diet cokes and a bag of cookies. I lay awake, wide awake, until the sun came up.  My mind raced with all that needed to be accomplished that day.  I was panicked.  Doug is well aware of my quirky sleep problems so he went immediately to President.  "Did he have anything that would ensure I got a good night's sleep  that night?"  He did and sleep I did for the remaining two nights of the trek. 
Throughout the days trekking I got to spend a considerable amount of time with this man who worked alongside the Mas and Pas, staff and youth, laughed as often as anyone and was quite possibly the most deeply moved by the spirit during each of the activities.  The more I got to know him, the more I admired him. His work ethic was remarkable. Whenever anyone needed anything, there he was.  At our stake conference months earlier it was revealed by our new Stake President that he called President Reese to be his counselor despite the fact he had never met him.  He was stranger to him.   Doug and I had talked about that during the ride home from conference.  We both agreed Heavenly Father must have really wanted him to serve our new stake in that capacity.  I made a joke and said it was if President Stucki "Pulled a rabbit out of his hat."  Doug added, "President Stucki pulled a rabbit out of God's hat." 

When the trek ended and we packed up to go home I laughed with President Reese that I promised I wouldn't call, text or email him for at least six months.  After the amount of communication we had in the days leading up to the trek, I was certain, I joked, that he was sick and tired of me. A few days later I came home and found cupcakes and handwritten note from him thanking me for my involvement in the trek. 

Fast forward to the evening of August 25 when the lump that everyone thought was a fibroadenoma turned out to be a fast growing, malignant, spindle celled, cancer.  I don't remember much of the events that transpired that night, but I do remember talking with Dr. President on the phone.  "... Meet me at 9:30 tomorrow morning at my office. I'll take care of you." and somehow I knew it would all be okay.  The man with the easy laugh, extraordinary work ethic and undeniable spirit was on my team. He certainly wasn't a quitter, and neither was I.