Friday 14th Sad Day for many

Friday 14^th Sad Day for many

I can hardly remember this week, as it is just a blur.  But Monday was the 10^th 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.