The Ostrom Family Adventures

A small family embarking on a year-long adventure to New Zealand to meet new friends and learn about more of the world and ourselves.

Farewell Noël and thank you for the memories.

It has been 10 months since I last published a post. My last post was about this gorgeous incredible woman and sweet sweet friend. Noël succumbed to mortality around 5:15 12 October 2026 New Zealand/Aotearoa time and I am reminded again of how fragile and delicate this precious life is.

Sunnyside Beach July 12, 2026.

Our last day with our joy, our Noël, was a perfect day of eating, drinking, talking a ton and playing on the beach. We definitely did not know it would be our last day all together, and I don’t think we even have a classic Jackie, Noël, Jessa sandwich photo from that day. It was perfect, and we thought we had more days like that.

Noël and Jackie supervising the
shenanigans of the beach day.

Topped off with a gorgeous sunset
over the Puget Sound.

I have been having a hard time writing about adventures and fun as my sweet friend was fighting mortality in the form of bowel cancer. The gigantic bummer of her situation made me think of all the bummers in the world these days and it was hard to write about the joys and struggles of living in a new country, raising an incredible young man, and simply trying to find our greater purpose in the face of some serious personal and worldwide bummers that many are going through.

There is always peace to be found, whether in a moment or movement

Noël was a lifelong adventurer, a seeker of deep truths, a raw and humble woman of incredible and realistic faith, and she spoke more straightforwardly than I am often brave enough to do. I loved her for that and for her spirit of wonder at all the beautiful mysteries of this world. I did not have the privilege to work with her, but she served as a nurse and died as a Colonel in the US Army and had just gotten her Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a specialty in psychiatry and mental health when she was diagnosed. She leaned into hard things.

But, she knew that life was a gift everyday as well and encouraged those around her to live theirs as fully as possible. I have been blessed to know many people who have encouraged me to do that, so to honor them and to share the beauty of this life we are blessed to wake to each day, I will write about our adventures – the big discoveries of this incredible island we find ourselves still on, and the small meaningful moments of daily life.

Rest now my dear friend, and thank you for all the memories