Friday 14th Sad Day for many
I can hardly remember this week, as it is just a blur. But Monday was the 10th and
that was the date of Kathryn’s Huge Christmas – Send Off Party. I cried when she made that invite
because she called it a send off party.
She really believed that she was going to die and this would be her big
send off. I don’t know how she
could be so brave and strong. I
know she held a lot of it in to save me the pain but now I wish she would have
talk to me more about her feelings.
My principal’s son was send to the ER on Wednesday. He was injured in a wrestling
match. He had to be placed on a
ventilator and be in the ICU. Did
that bring back memories? Oh
yes. I felt for him and his
family. I know what it is like to
see your child heavily sedated and all those tubes going into the body. Listening to the machine pump life into
your child. The tape on the face. You could hardly see Kathryn’s little
face. You can’t hug or kiss your
child like you would like to. It’s
so difficult to watch your child not be who they normally are. This young man is home and doing fine
now.
I had another student get a bad concussion this week
too. Days of impairment. The mother of this student sent us an
email explaining the situation.
You could feel her heart melting as you read it. Her daughter will be fine but again her
child is not who she is supposed to be right now but she will fully
recover.
Then came Friday…
Oh boy. Now we have parents
and siblings of 20 small innocent children murdered by a crazy kid. I talked to Kathryn briefly about
welcoming each and everyone of them to heaven. Maybe God took her to help with this situation. As I talked to her I could smell her
smell. I know she was listening.
Richard came down from Bellingham to spend the evening with
us. He was planning leaving
Saturday morning and having breakfast with my Mom. Then heading up to our place in Packwood so he could ski
White Pass until Christmas Eve.
Well, he was only a half-mile from home and someone pulled out in front
of him and there was nothing Richard could do. With both feet in he tried to avoid the crash but it
happened way too fast. He’s going
to the ER today to have his back checked out. The other guy went to the hospital in an ambulance for a
possible broken arm. Both cars a
toast. Richard’s ski rack full of
skis was ripped right off the top of the car. This caused more damage to the car, destroyed the ski rack
and did some damage to some skis. One
of the pairs of skis damaged he was selling in just a few hours. He told the guy about it and made the
repair to the skis. The guy still
wanted them, which worked out great for both Richard and this guy. Richard had just bought that ski rack
because last year an Elk jumped over his car and ripped the ski rack off. I think the most upsetting thing is
that Richard took a long time finding this car. It was the car of his dreams. And we said it was a gift from Kathryn. You see she wanted to do something for
Richard so we helped him buy this car with money from Kathryn’s car and her
life insurance. I told the guy at
the accident that the car was a gift from his dead sister and that was the
worst part of this accident. They
guy didn’t have insurance and he was driving with a suspended license. And it was his fault as the police
officer wrote him a ticket. Well,
several tickets. He was a nice
enough guy and felt bad about it too.
Richard’s girlfriend (Bee) will be here on Sunday or
Monday. Hopefully Richard can get
everything taken care of by Monday afternoon so he can get up to the mountain
and do what he loves. Skiing was
the gift he received with Kathryn’s first diagnoses. I still think about my brother giving himself to Richard
every weekend for a year or two.
Richard thinks about it too.
He knows that it took a lot of my brother’s time and he is so grateful
to my brother. He introduced him
to a life of skiing and to many new friends.
Richard and I did a little shopping while we waited to meet
the guy who was buying the skis.
He’s fun to be with but there were so many cute girly things that I
would have looked at with Kathryn.
Richard and I by passed the dollar section at Target. It would have been the first stop for
Kathryn and I. I didn’t look at
the Christmas towels or the darling baby outfit I spotted. How about the Christmas
decorations? Of course Kathryn and
I would have looked through each and every isle. Boys are just different. You enjoy different things with boys than you do with
girls.
After we got home Richard and I each settled in with our
bags of ice. Mine for my knee and
his for his back. Scott had a
movie for us to watch. As a family
we relaxed and watched the movie before bed. I so love spending time as a family!
This weekend I plan on decorating the rest of the
house. Getting the tree up and
wrapping some gifts are on the list too.
I will also go to the hospital with Richard and maybe do a little
shopping with him. I will make it
a good one.
Yes...thinking about last year's Christmas Party w/Kathryn. I have the Snowman that I received during the gift exchange out on the table. It will be there every Christmas. A gentle and beautiful reminder of Kathryn. What a smile she wore at that party!! Pure Joy.
ReplyDeleteGlad Richard is going to be fine. Horrible blur of negative happenings this week. Shake it off Deb. Now to apply that smile Kathryn is infamous for.
My love to you and yours,
Debby Boland Watt
I am so grateful that Richard is okay! So sorry about his car.
ReplyDeleteDavid also received the gift of ski lessons from my brother and sister-in-law when Katie was in the hospital - isn't that a coincidence? He is now passionate about the sport. Such a thoughtful, wonderful gift from your brother.
I was just telling Gregg how I miss the things that are mother-daughter connections. I know that our husbands miss the daddy-daughter things, but there is so much that I miss as a mother of a daughter - things that we did, as well as things I looked forward to doing. Conversations about girl-things, shared sensibilities, the future as mother of the bride, etc. I know what you mean about that.
Just in case it would help, my brother-in-law is a no-pressure, honest guy who owns a car dealership called Auto Connections of Bellevue. We've bought several great cars from him and the experience has always been good. He can find any kind of car. His name is Stu Cordova; here is the info:
Phone (425) 466-2886
Website http://www.autoconnectionseast.com
Hugs to Team Bradley!