vSMITH continued from page 23 for a national championship. Then they are in two of them in a 5-6 year span, which is kind of unbelievable coming from where they came from when I was playing.” said ‘It’s not going to last. Let’s enjoy it while we can because it’s been Though Roger Smith may have never experienced a winning season a tremendous run.’ They win more games in one year than in all the in college, won a Heisman Trophy or caught a pass in the professional years I played.” Smith said he goes to about two or three Oregon games each season game, he said he’s still proud of his whole Oregon experience. “The greatest thing that happened to me in Oregon was I met my and has attended a number of bowl games that they’ve played in. wife and had three daughters with her,” he said. “I had great friends out Additionally, he’s attended the two biggest games in the program’s there and am still great friends with a lot of them. I saw a lot of things history — the 2010 BCS National Championship against Auburn and I never would’ve seen had I not gone there. I had a lot of fun and had the 2014 College Football Championship against Ohio State. a great time. Did we win as many games as we’d like? No. But it was a “Those were two great times,” he said. “They had a chance to beat great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Auburn and didn’t. Oregon ran out of players and ran out of gas against Ohio State. They thumped them towards the end. … That was vBy Rob Nielsen tremendous excitement. I didn’t think ever in my lifetime they’d play vLENS continued from page 21 still hangs on the wall in the living room. And boxes and boxes of books are scattered in almost every corner of every room. Except the kitchen, in there every piece of plastic Tupperware had made its way out of the cupboards or drawers to the floor. The upstairs held a bed still with bedding on it and once again shirts on hangers hung in that bedroom waiting to be worn once again. The smell of raccoon and other critter droppings was over powering and we exited the “Raccoon House” to explore the “Stand Alone Home”. I chose this name as this home sat on the corner of a gravel road with no garage, no barn, and no outbuildings of any kind on the property. And unlike the previous home where almost every piece of belongings had created a maze of confusion as to where you should step, this home had most everything still in its place as if the family had only a short notice to pack or had simply left routinely for the day only not to return. In the kitchen cups and glasses are stacked either ready to be put away or set out to be served to an arriving guest. The living room has end tables holding lamps and couches and chairs waiting to be sat on. A vacuum sits in the corner as if it had just finished cleaning the carpets and had not yet been put away to the closet. The bathroom still holds hand towels and toilet paper is still on the holder. The rugs are in front of the sink and bathtub undisturbed. Bedding lies in place in the bedroom and the vanity holds lotions, a brush and the alarm clock has stopped shortly after 2:00. In the children’s room would stand a crib and a toddler’s bed. Toys and games would spill out the closet onto the bedroom floor, wondering when the next time they would be held in a child’s hand. Still stuck to the bedroom wall are drawings and colored pictures from a child as the only décor to this once joyous room. We leave wondering and we will never know the mystery as to what possesses a family to vanish without taking a single personal belonging, there’s a story to be told of the sadness and the secrets that lie within of how they became frozen in time. vBy Angella and Ryan Byykkonen 24vHISVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017