Story from my personal journal

On and off I keep a journal. I use to write simpel daily things when I was younger but now I try to write memories good and bad that I think my kids will enjoy sharing with their kids. Some (most) are funny, some are spiritual and some are just the way things were when I was younger and the world was different.

Here is the first memory I shared in my journal when I decided to start writing the way I do now. Let me know if you enjoy it.

In the winter of 1996, my sister Rachel moved up in the aspen woods near Heber UT. She asked Jonah (My Brother ) and I to help her move. Rachel had rented a 30 foot Box truck to move from Sandy UT to the hills above Heber. Jonah and I helped load the Truck in the afternoon on a Wednesday until after dark. Not everything was packed up so we ended up doing the trash bag packing technique before it got too late so we could do the move.

Rachel jumped in her car and lead us to her new house in the hills. It was a really cool place surrounded by aspens and way up in the hills above 7000 feet. but it was also the middle of winter and Rachel had a 4x4 ford explorer. We were driving the 30 foot box truck with rear wheel drive. I was in the driver seat and we came up to the big hill that lead to Rachel's place. It was about a 50% grade (about 27 degree angle from horizontal) and had a long gradual curve to the left with a sheer drop on the right that fell between 30 and 80 feet.

With it being the middle of winter and us driving a loaded down moving truck with no snow tires on an icey mountain road, we decided to go for it. As we got about 1/4 mile up and near the top of the hill the tires began to spin and the truck started drifting to the right closer and closer to the ledge and backward. I took my foot off the gas and tried to coast backward to get some traction to turn the truck away from the ledge, but it did not work. We ended up sliding a good 30 or 40 feet and the only thing keeping us from going over the edge was an tiny 4 inch dirt mound along that portion of the dirt road.

Meanwhile back home in Corona.

(Later we heard from our parents that Back In Corona CA our Mom and Dad (Mac and Linda) were in bed getting ready to sleep. They had finished their day and said their prayers and did know that we were helping Rachel move, but about the time Jonah and I were really finding ourselves in trouble sliding down a mountain in a giant box, Dad felt inspired to pray for our safety on the mountain roads. He and Mom knelt down and said a specific prayer asking protection for their children.)

Once the Truck stopped Jonah and I stepped out to take an account of where we were and what to do next. One of the options being abandon the truck until morning. The wheels were inches from the ledge and if the truck were to back up straight, it would just go right over the ridge. Jonah and I discussed our options and again decided to go for it. Jonah who had worked for UPS in the past and marshaled Airplanes into the airports gave me a quick lesson in how to read his hand and arm signals. Left arm pointing out and right hand waiving back meant steer the vehicle to the left and visa versa. arms crossing meant to stop and the speed at which they crossed indicated the speed I was to use in pressing the brake.

Jonah then went about 20 paces behind the truck, positioned himself so that I could see him in the rear view mirror and began to marshal me backward and down the hill. for about 1/4 of a mile he slowly waved and motioned and kept a vigilant eye on the sliding wheels the aim of the front wheels the trajectory and momentum of the truck. Because of the slope and curve of the road, we never got that truck more than 8 inches from the edge of the road and it took us nearly 2 hours maybe more to eek our way along that precarious ledge. Jonah guided me all of the way down the hill to a fork in the road that saddled and allowed up to stop away from the ledge and try another route which we found around the back side of the hill that allowed us to arrive safely at Rachel's new home.

One thing I distinctly remember is that I had the Window of the truck cracked to hear instruction from Jonah, but as I recall, we did very little talking. I remember just looking in my rear view mirror, seeing Jonah and following his silent signals. I was not afraid of going over the edge as I could see him guiding me in that mirror. If he ever came close to stepping outside my view in the mirror, I would call for him to step back into full view, and that was the only verbal I remember. I may have been driving that truck, but Jonah was the hero that night. He was the reason we did not crash over the edge of that road. Never once did we get angry with each other or blame each other for making the choices to go for it.

I will always remember backing that beast of a truck down a cliff and relying on my Brother to keep me safe. and finding out later that the spirit had prompted our parents to ask a loving and protective Heavenly Father for our safety not knowing the perdicament we were in. I believe that it was our parent's prayer and comforting spirit of our Heavenly Father that Kept us calm, confident and and able to trust each other.