From Karen and Lou Ross

In July of 2001, Michael and Tinalynne came to Seattle to visit us, and we did lots of touristy things. One of the places we went was the Mount Saint Helens National Park, to see the devastation from the volcano eruption.

At some point, Michael told us that he had picked up a lava rock to bring home as a souvenir. We were all horrified. We were in a National Park, and there were all these signs that said not to take anything or you could be arrested.

What I remember is that we harassed Michael for the next couple of hours that we were in the park, and that he eventually threw the rock away before we left the park.

But last night, Tinalynne told me that they still have the rock! It was in his pocket the whole time, and he didn’t want to get caught trying to throw it away, so he brought it home with him.

I didn’t want to share this story today because it might lead you to think that Michael was really this outlaw bandit. But last night Tinalynne told me that ever since then, for nine and a half years, no matter where they went on a nature hike or to some historical spot, she constantly harassed him. She’d say, “Don’t touch anything! Put down that rock!”