Wednesday, September 6, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
TOM’S REST: Sisters
woman fulfills late
husbands dream
Continued from page 23
Tom leaning on the counter.
“He took two steps toward
me and then fell. I heard his
head hit the ground,” Cheryl
recalled through tears.
Cheryl performed CPR
until the medics arrived,
although she doesn’t remem-
ber hearing their sirens.
“Tom reached up and
squeezed my arm and then his
arm fell to the ground. I just
kept doing CPR. I didn’t know
what else to do.”
She remembers sitting
alone on the laundry room
floor as the medics worked on
Tom.
“This muscular, fit, force of
life was dragged by the med-
ics to an open space where
they had room to work. His
brain was functioning but his
heart wouldn’t start.”
Tom was gone.
They were married so
young.
“We raised each other. We
became each other. It’s almost
like he’s still here. It feels like
everywhere I go, he’s leading
me,” she said.
Tom’s impact on others
was clearly evident after his
death. Cheryl found numerous
awards and certificates that
this humble man had received
that she never knew about.
The young men with whom
Tom worked all wanted to
be pallbearers at the funeral,
fully surrounding his casket.
Those same men came to the
house in Sherwood to tend
to the landscaping until the
house sold. They come out
now to help Cheryl here on the
property.
After the funeral, Cheryl
said, nothing seemed right to
do. When she made the move
to Central Oregon and said she
was going to follow through
on Tom’s dream, “Everyone
thought I was nuts,” she said.
“They didn’t see that it’s what
was keeping me alive.”
Cheryl recently moved
into Pine Meadow Village, as
she was isolated out on the
property.
Tom’s Rest is open for
business. Cheryl is renting
out all the facilities to groups,
couples, and individuals for a
modest charge and makes it
available for retreats for wid-
ows, grief support groups,
and healing workshops free of
charge or a minimal charge.
Guests may be able to do work
in exchange for lodging.
Two grief groups and the
Ride Like a Girl bike group
out of Portland are among
those who have heard about
Tom’s Rest.
“Tom’s Rest is overflow-
ing with the love you have for
your husband. I will tell every-
one about it,” one of the bik-
ing ladies recently told Cheryl.
The first weekend of
October, Cheryl is offering a
grief retreat for people who
have lost their spouses and
partners. She is recruiting
volunteers who could pro-
vide music and art activities,
offer massage or acupuncture
treatments, and counseling
services. Participants will be
able to experience the heal-
ing energy of the property
while walking the labyrinth
or sitting quietly on one of the
overlooks, gazing out over the
peaceful landscape.
“If I can keep it open and
rent it inexpensively to cover
taxes, utilities, maintenance,
and the retreat costs, that’s
what I want to do. If I could
fill it every day with people
who need the help, I’d be
happy. If people can use it,
that’s what matters,” Cheryl
explained.
A beautiful hand-forged
gate greets arriving guests,
with TOM’S REST spelled
out in hand-cut metal letters
and a bronzed bicycle. This
dream conceived of and built
by Tom and Cheryl allows
Tom to go on doing what he
always did – making people
feel important and that they
matter.
“His greatest pleasure
was giving to others,” Cheryl
concluded.
For more information, see
Tom’s Rest on Facebook and
on the Motion Social web-
site. Cheryl can be reached at
503-332-2114.
25
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
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