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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams May 1, 2006 Wendy Lambert, center, poses with her sister Heidi Kuehl, right, and best friend Katrina Williams in front of the Ascension Lutheran Church in Medford. Lambert credits the church and both women for helping her after the death of her husband. (Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta) Growing through grieving By JENNIFER STRANGE for the Mail Tribune The two months were blessedly busy for Eagle Point resident Wendy Lambert, her days filled with funeral arrangements, financial restructuring, child care and a constant flow of guests and gifts. But now, as the shock wears off and the reality of her new life surfaces, this mother of two is increasingly aware of the support network that's helped her make it this far. "When things like this happen to a good person like Aaron, it brings out the best in people," says Lambert of the outpouring of concern and help she's received since her husband died on Feb. 9. Aaron Lambert, a 33-year-old heavy machinery operator for Papé Machinery, was killed after becoming entangled in the driveshaft of a truck he was working on at a Medford construction site at Biddle and McAndrews roads. "Just last week I got a phone call from someone checking up on me, and every day my 'rock'-- my best friend and my sister — knows where I am and one of them spends the night so I'm not alone," Wendy Lambert says. Support doesn't come just in the form of visits and phone calls. A bag full of gift certificates for family entertainment, restaurants and even tanning arrived from the parents at her children's school. Friends, neighbors and parishioners at Ascension Lutheran Church in Medford, conscious of the stay-at-home mom's time and emotional constraints, supply everything from home-cooked dinners to lawn care. Consolation also has come from her husband's employer. Employees from far and wide knew the Lamberts and felt the weight of Aaron's death, she says. "They've been amazing, donating vacation time, paying me Aaron's wages and giving me a fleet vehicle because our car has so many miles on it," Lambert says. The corporation will honor Aaron through a memorial fund, an annual Aaron Lambert Memorial Auto Show to be held in front of Papé's new building off Table Rock Road and a conference room that bears his name. "We all think an awful lot of Wendy, Aaron and the kids," says Lee Ballard, director of human resources for the Papé Group Inc., who witnessed an influx of donations from six different states. "A lot of the things that have happened have just sort of blossomed." And they'll continue to blossom this spring, when a gang of her husband's co-workers descends on the Lamberts' yard to fulfill one of his plans. "They're talking about building a fabulous treehouse for the kids," Lambert says. "We were going to do that this year and they said, 'We'll make it happen.' " Lambert admits she feels fear for her children's future. She wonders how she can possibly be both Mommy and Daddy, especially since her husband was such an involved father, snuggling with the children and reading them stories every night, organizing adventures and camping trips for the weekends. "Sometimes it seems like we've gone from everything to nothing," Lambert says. "Last weekend I thought it sure would be nice to put the boat in the lake, but I don't tow the boat or back it up. And it doesn't seem fair to the kids — I still want them to have the fun life Aaron wanted for them, they deserve that." To help her manage and eventually transition through some of these fears and confusing emotions, Lambert is taking a bereavement class and is part of a support group. Her weeks are rounded out with a bevy of "manly new jobs" like mowing the lawn and buying a weedeater, a gym routine and what she calls her "daytime support network and nighttime support network." "The sun's out and I still feel like I'm in winter, my heart is still broken," she says one spring day nearly three months after the accident. "But I'm trying to use what I learned in class last week: When I'm having a sad thought about Aaron or my life, change it into a happy thought, which will help be more positive." Her friend, Katrina Williams, spends several nights with her and the kids. "Sometimes she doesn't feel like she's strong and doing really well, but for us to see how she's working through all the aspects of losing him, she's doing fantastically," Williams says. "She's gone from being a supportive wife and stay-at-home mom to being a mom and dad and taking care of everything herself. She's a trooper." Jennifer Strange is a freelancer living in Central Point. Reach her at [email protected]. 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