What we didn’t know about the week before we got him was that Rudy had been battling a cold. He never mentioned it and seemed great during the whole reuniting of the Fredeen family the day before. But apparently, around 5:00 AM the morning of Rudy’s release, Rudes had gotten super sick in his top bunk. Not wanting to disturb the other cabin mates, but not able to hold it in, Rudy decided to barf into his own hands and sleeping bag. When we got to him (of course we were early and just drove right up to the cabin) his counselor, Chris, was cleaning up the mess still, while everyone else at camp had gotten to head up to get breakfast. I came to find out later that Chris was the true super hero of the Summer, as Rudy shared there were several accidents the boys faced dealing with bodily functions. But Chris stayed kind and positive through it all, never making the boys feel embarrassed or ashamed. I absolutely LOVE that Colvig Silver Camp chooses such amazing young leaders to mentor and help shape the kids. It is such a remarkable opportunity that we are continuously grateful to our dear friends, Jill and Alan Ater, for helping Rudy get to camp each Summer. I am certain it has aided in the person he is today, and will continue to grow into.
Rudy’s “camp momma”, “Peaches”. Peaches kept an eye on Rudy for us this Summer, and sent us occasional updates on his state of mind and well being. However, Peaches had a daughter this year who went on her first “Pathfinder” excursion, and she was missing her terribly. The “Pathfinder” group is the oldest group at camp. After years of doing overnights in the woods and peaking mountains, rock climbing, and learning how to totally survive in the wilderness, the “Pathfinder” kids begin camp with one day of “hello’s” then leave for their entire time spent out in the mountains. 26 days to be exact. So, Peaches told us Rudy was as big of a safe haven for her as she was for him. She said Rudy would ask her anytime he saw her, “Peaches, are you doing ok? Do you need a hug?” She said he always wanted to make sure she was feeling loved while her daughter was away.
Rudy and Clay saying their good byes.
I love this picture that I got to capture of our sweet boy. He had a fever, had gotten sick that morning, was so emotional about having to say good bye to so many friends, but happy to be going home, and was exhausted and FILTHY, but he still was smiling. A true reflection of how he walks through life.
While dad got the truck, Rudy and I took a moment to sit in the quiet of nature, reflecting on his time there and expressing gratefulness. On his last day as a ten-year-old, I sat next to this astounding young man and quietly beamed with pride.
This night we had our last gig in Durango as well at Durango Craft Spirits. Rudy wanted to join us so badly, but he could barely sit up straight. So we made the call to leave him to sleep and rest up in the hotel while we went to do the gig. When I texted him at 6:30 to check in and let him know we were starting a bit early, he was in good spirits, but tired. When I texted him around 9:00 he never answered. He was passed out HARD. He never even heard us come in that night.
The show itself was actually wonderful. We never really know what to expect at this venue since it is fairly small and has some people who come to hear the music, and others who just walk up off the street, but it ended up being a super great night. I, sadly, did not get ONE photo of the night. But I do have a funny story. When we arrived, there were three couples visiting with each other. They had just gotten there and had settled in right where we needed to be. After some fun back and forth banter, they genuinely asked if we needed them to move. We worked out a solution where both of us could be in the same space. As I was setting up our giant merchandise inventory in all of it’s splayed out, colorful glory, one of the women was speaking about it, very loudly, to her friends.
“Oh my gosh!! Champagne Sunday! I love that! Cham-PAGNE! Cham-PAG-nay! I love all of those!” She gleefully mused to her friends.
“I totally want to get something from them. I LOVE champagne! I LOVE Sunday!”
Then she turned to me, in all seriousness and asked, “So, what is your band name?”…
You know what? I honestly laughed out loud. Her friends laughed out loud. SHE laughed out loud. I politely told her what our band name was and then, seeing that she had a great sense of humor and was able to laugh at herself, I added, “I’m sorry I couldn’t make that more clear for you.” We all were dying laughing. They bought merchandise before we even started.
That whole group of people really set the tone for our evening though, because they were talking about leaving our gig (which we hadn’t started yet) to go get food and then go see their other friend at his gig. (Jared here: It wasn’t just anybody. The way they were talking about this guy, they were either old friends, devoted fans, or both, and the guy was legendary in their circle.) I said, “Why don’t you stick around a bit, we’ll start a little early so you can hear us and then you can go see your friend play?” I overheard one of the guys say something along the lines of “Why wouldn’t we go support our friend of years? Sure. Let’s just stay here with these guys we don’t even know.” Honestly, I get that. People have a difficult time dedicating their evenings to stuff they don’t know. I just didn’t want them to jump ship before they heard us. So, we started a half hour early.
And they NEVER LEFT.
I will say this for the people in the back (and also as a constant reminder to myself): If you LOVE what you do, you work EXTRA hard to continue to be able to do it! It is not “If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life”. We could have said to those couples, “OH, bummer. Well have fun.” But instead we chose to start early and give them a hell of a show, and now we have a few more fans. All because we put in the extra work to make it happen. It’s not always easy, but it is SO worth it. Start early, leave last, put in the time. If you love what you do, do it the hardest!
Our Sweet boy turned ELEVEN on the road, and here’s how it went…
Good morning and HAPPY ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY to our incredible son. Still fever-ridden and a cough taking hold, Rudy was bound and determined to ignore it long enough to unwrap some gifts and head out for some breakfast. He still had no appetite, but a smoothie was ok. Also, not pictured here, is when Jared blasted “Birthday” by the Beatles and brought him his presents in his underwear. Rudy probably thought (or at least hoped) it was a delusion brought on by fever.
Here is Rudy showing us his stack of letters received at camp. He took the time to read us all the letters his Grandma Pam sent him with updates about birds, deer, their newly-paved driveway, and all kinds of other things. He said that between all the friends and family writing to him, he received thirty-eight letters while away!! I’m sure it helped him deal with his homesickness a bit easier. Thank you to everyone who reached out. It was very special.
My little eleven year old, keeping a smile on his face, despite having a fever and a sore throat.
We got out of the hotel to go see a movie and then headed back immediately to put Rudy to bed.
He woke up with a little bit of an appetite, so we took him to dinner back at Steamworks as an eleven year old!
You know, it wasn’t exactly how we’d planned to spend the day, but it was all just perfect. We were together and grateful and celebrating. I told Rudy that we could celebrate his birthday all month long, so not to worry about the actual day being a bit of a wash. Of course he was the one that was apologizing for not feeling better…
