OSO — One year after the slide that claimed 43 lives, Oso and Darrington came together to heal with those who helped them recover from the tragedy.

Firefighters, law enforcement personnel, religious leaders and elected officials joined those who had lost homes and loved ones, first at the “Gathering in Hope” service in Darrington March 20, then at the remembrance ceremony on Highway 530, at the site of the slide, March 22.

Dayn Brunner lost his sister, Summer Raffo, to the slide, but as he and his then-16-year-old son Riley searched the site, they gained a deeper connection to each other.

“I didn’t feel the rain or the cold or the pain,” Dayn Brunner said. “I was just on an adrenaline rush of wanting to get her out of there, which we did on day five, but even when we did, I was mad at myself.”

In spite of his difficulty in navigating both the terrain and his emotions, Dayn cherishes his newfound closeness with Riley, whom he deemed “my best friend” as well as his son.

“I never thought we could get closer than we already were, but we each saw a new side of each other, out in the mud,” Dayn said. “We met so many other people who have become our family now. We’ve forged lasting relationships.”

Dayn expressed his appreciation to those around the world who have embraced them as family as well, by sending cards, letters and care packages.

As for Riley, he admitted that it’s “still rough” not having his aunt Summer around, but he credited the ceremony on the rebuilt road with providing a measure of closure.

“The first year is always the hardest,” said Riley, who attends Darrington High School. “Now that we’re past it, it should be a lot easier to heal.”

Highway 530 was shut down so that first responders and grieving families like the Brunners could walk along the rebuilt road and observe the flying of the flag at full mast for the first time at the slide site.

The sea of attendees was so thick that Bellevue Lt. Rich Burke, who’d served as an on-site public affairs officer after the disaster, couldn’t see past them to signal the honor guard.

“I’m not that tall,” Burke laughed.

“You’re tall in our eyes,” Ron Thompson replied.

Ron and Gail Thompson were residents of Steelhead Drive who survived by sheer chance. They’d originally planned to host a church youth group at their house on the morning of the slide, but when the get-together was postponed by a day, they headed to Costco to pick up food for the kids, with Gail’s mother in tow.

“We left ten minutes before the slide happened,” Thompson said. “We’ve been so blessed with how well everything has fallen into place.”

The Thompsons were able to find a new home in Oso last summer, buying it and moving in within three days.

“I cannot compliment the agencies and volunteers that we’ve worked with enough,” Thompson said. “Their generosity has been so overwhelming. Because all of my military discharge paperwork was in our old house, I had to go to my VA counselor to acquire replacement documents, and I was able to get a veterans’ loan.”

Thompson has been working on getting his woodcarving shop up and running again, and he handed Burke one of 200 metal Christmas tree ornaments he’s made in memory of the slide.

“We can’t stop crying, but they’re tears of thanksgiving,” Gail Thompson said.

Even though Burke came to the area as an outsider, he received so much support from community members that his “toughest day” was when he had to leave.

“I’ve become part of your family,” Burke said. “Even after Operation Desert Storm and 23 years in the fire service, I was so overwhelmed by the compassion I was met with here. Not one time did I hear anyone ask, ‘What about me?'”

Indeed, Burke joked that the generosity of locals had caused him to gain 10 pounds from the Oso Fire Department’s kitchen alone.

Chaplain Joel Johnson of the Oso Fire Department offered more solemn sentiments, both at the slide site and at the “Gathering in Hope,” recognizing that survivors still had heavy hearts, but commending them for their continued resilience.

During the “Gathering in Hope” at the Darrington Community Center, Shaun Jones, Northwest territory disaster services director for the Salvation Army, noted that the recovery was due at least as much to local residents as to the number of agencies that helped.

“You’re the ones who will own it, because you’re the ones who are left to live with it, after everyone else has done,” Jones said. “Your neighbors got knee-deep in that mud to pitch in. In 20 years, I’ve never seen a community pull itself together like this one has.”