In Loving Memory of Maddox Lawrence Hemnes

This morning I was woken up by my friend Bethany. And then she said, “Meg’s nephew died.” I could not believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. I quickly got out of bed and woke up Kels and told her what had happened. She quickly got out of bed and we walked into the hall where Meg’s roommates and Bethy, our RA, was standing. Meg was in the bathroom. She walked out and I quickly walked to her and hugged her. It was so hard to see her so incredibly upset. About half an hour later Meg got her computer and Bible and headed outside. All that were still there sat down and prayed. By the end of the prayer we were all in tears. Later on I went to see Meg, who was sitting under the gazebo. We sat there and cried and looked at a picture of little Maddox. So here’s the story…
Amy and Lucas, Meg’s sister-in-law and brother, had a baby last Saturday, October 20. His name is Maddox Lawrence Hemnes. Last weekend Meg went home so that she could be there to meet her new nephew. Everything went really well and Amy, Lucas, and Maddox went home late Sunday afternoon. Meg came back here to PCC on Monday evening. This morning at about 8:45 Meg got a call from her mom saying that little baby Maddox had passed away. This morning at 6, Amy woke up to feed Maddox and found that he wasn’t breathing. Both Lucas and Amy did CPR and when the ambulance got there the paramedics also tried to do CPR, but it didn’t work.
Today Meg’s family and some family friends were all at Lucas and Amy’s house. This whole ordeal has been very hard for Meg today because she isn’t there with her family. This would be hard for anyone. Kels, Meg, and I went over to Kel’s boyfriend, David Douma’s house and just hung out and watched TV. Meg got a call from her mom and sister Tess and found out that they were going to be able to fly her home so that she could be with them. I brought her to the airport tonight at 7:30.

Little Maddox was a huge blessing to this family and they are feeling like he has just been ripped away from them. There are going through an extremely tough time right now. Megan is now home with her family and they have planned the funeral service fro Wednesday. Please keep this family in your prayer. They appreciate prayers greatly.

Maddox Lawrence Hemnes on his first day in this world.
This is Maddox with Auntie Meg!

This picture of Maddox was taken the day that Meg came back to California.

So Cal Fires

The Southern California fires have surely affected the Providence campus, students, and staff. There was a fire approximately 2 miles away from the PCC campus. It was a hay fire and they were able to contain it so that it did not spread. The wind affected the PCC campus the most. On Monday morning there were various tree branches scattered about campus and all the grass is filled with leaves and different things. Our sand volleyball court became very flat and a lot of the sand is gone. The wind has completely died down. There have been ashes falling throughout the day yesterday and some today. Yesterday my car had ashes all over and when I turned on the air conditioner a lot of ashes came through. It was pretty weird. My friend Megan went home to Washington this weekend because her sister-in-law had a baby. She flew back home on Monday night and when she was landing she could see all the different fires from the air. One of my roommates, Rachel, a lot of her family has been evacuated from their homes. Her grandparents, who live in Malibu, were evacuated and their Presbyterian church burned down on early Sunday morning. Her aunt lives in Santa Clarita by Magic Mountain and she was also evacuated. Almost everyone here at Providence knows at least one person that was either evacuated or is packed and ready to go at any time. It's been pretty hectic around here and a lot of people are worried about their families and friends. My RA [[Resident Assistant aka dorm mom]] We have been assured that PCC will not get hit by the fires. We are in the middle of town and it would be almost impossible for any of the fires to hit us. We have been very fortunate and haven't lost power. We are all in constant prayer for the families that have been affected by the So Cal fires.

Today we had a campus clean up day to try and get everything back to normal. There were a lot of people that helped, but there is still a lot to be done. We have all been staying inside as much as possible because the air has been filled with smoke and it makes it hard to breathe. When you look at the mountains, you can hardly see them because there is a thick layer of smoke around them. The weather has been very hot this week. It’s been in the high 80s and there has been no wind. Hopefully within the next couple weeks it will improve.