The Search

I didn't want to write this, largely because I was hopping it would be over by now, but a member of my family has been missing in the mountains since Saturday.

Michelle and a hiking partner took off on a (long) day hike near Vail, CO. When she got too tired to continue, she encouraged him to go on. They were to meet up after he had summited the mountain. She has not been seen since then.

Yesterday, a load of volunteers including my Dad and Matt and two great people I work with went up to join the rescue. They had at least four dog teams on the ground and at least two helicopters in the sky. They had so many volunteers that they had to get extra maps. Still, at the end of the day, little had been found. Found or not, it was moving and encouraging that people can be so great. You've got to believe that humanity is more good than bad.

Of course, this is all very personal to me. She is not in my immediate family (she is my third cousin), but I probably know her at least as well as most people know their cousins. She used to babysit for my sister and I and taught some of my other cousins how to swim. More recently, I've seen her with her beautiful family.

We're all still hoping for a happy ending. We look for all the good thoughts and prayers (as your religion or non-religion allows) that we will find her safe and well.