Above: The Longview Public Library, one of the oldest buildings in my hometown of Longview, Washington, is framed by two trees on the north end of Longview’s Civic Circle. Check out more photos from my trip — with updated photos from yesterday.
Yesterday I made a trip up to my hometown of Longview, Washington just to check on a couple things, snap some photos I didn’t get last time, and visit once again with the Dillons — the first family, so to speak, of the Kelso COGOP.
I met many nice people while walking through portions of Longview yesterday, including some folks having dinner at the Monticello Hotel. On a whim, I asked if the hotel had an available room for me to shoot a quick photo of a view down Broadway, but they didn’t. One kind woman who worked there volunteered to talk to the owner on my behalf and see if I could be granted access to the rooftop fire escape, but that was shot down as well. Oh well, I tried and many thanks to those who helped me try.
Above: The Monticello Hotel in Longview’s Civic Circle. It would have been neat to shoot a photo from one of the higher floors of the building.
I then went to downtown Longview and it continues to evolve into a more stable community as time goes by. The businesses that had just started up during my last visit were going very strong, and talking with some of the owners, I got the feeling they are there to stay. I said a prayer for the folks of downtown Longview that the Lord would bless their businesses and efforts to revitalize a town that has been sent reeling by the industrial decline of the last decade.
Shortly after that, I proceeded to the Kelso Church of God of Prophecy, the church that I consider my home church — I detailed this in a previous post — and visited my former pastor and his family. We talked for over an hour, and Pastor Pat even shared how he had undergone shoulder surgery after a work accident. Pray for him and his family as he is off work for a period of time to recover from the injury and subsequent surgery.
Above: Me, in front of the Kelso COGOP. I attended that church on Walnut Street from 1999-2002.
The day had a somber end to it, however.
As I headed home, Cris Birch called me when I was around the Woodland area and told me that Joel Senior’s dad had just passed away due to a heart attack. I rushed back into Camas and was able to speak with Joel for a time before Cris and Rachael drove with him to Crescent City, California, where his family lives. They arrived safely this morning around 7.
Joel and I had spent some time together at length this week (he’s in some of the Beacon Rock photos I took), and it is a shock to hear of the tragedy that has befallen his family. Please continue to pray for Joel and the Senior family as they deal with their loss — I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Joel and his family.