Life. Snapshots Part 2

Welcome back! There is a running joke when it comes to my family and the trips we take, and the predicaments we find ourselves in. Needless to say, nobody wants to take trips with us after they hear our history. So to continue the snapshots, I am going to share a few of these trips that have been life-changing, while also being memory makers. (also they both can be searched and there are plenty of articles on both)

Snapshot Trip 1: Spring Break April 1998. Nashville, TN. For the record, one of my favorite places to visit! (I went back for my “senior trip” with my parents 🙂 Anyways, we were a couple days into our trip, out shopping at some outlets we had found. The sky went dark, when I say dark, I mean one minute it was day, and the next it was night. No cell phones to alert us, only “bag phones.” The stores started to announce tornados all around us. So we jump in the car and head back to the Opryland where we are staying… greatest choice? Well, we did get there, and into our room. I jumped into the bathtub, and my brother, almost 16, decided he would watch out the window. As soon as he saw the funnel cloud though he ran to the bathroom! It was a hard and terrible hit. The hotel was flooded. We walked downtown, tons of office buildings just ripped apart. Mountains of files and floppy disks (remember these?). I will always remember that sinking feeling, and never do I take the warnings or watches lightly.

Snapshot 2: Three things to always ask for when booking a hotel: 1. do you have sprinkler systems that WORK 2. 3rd floor or below 3. a room near stair escape- always make sure you know where these are- It’s a life and death situation! Ok, I am going to pretty vague with the details on this one, because it was arson, but I hope you can see the bigger picture. January 25, 2004. Greenville, SC. Comfort Inn. My parents in one room, and three friends and I in the very next room. Somewhere around 4:00AM, fire alarm starts blaring. Seconds later, it’s off. My thought, “Wow, that was a fast response.” Then again, I was half asleep. Fire alarm starts blaring again, and it’s not stopping. My parents are on the other side of the wall, but we have to go out in the hallway to get into their room, and there is obviously something happening on the floor above us. The phone rings, it was my mom, who totally out of character says, “get your shoes and jackets. Don’t open the door until you know it’s us.” So we did. Now, just imagine of the sound of glass shattering, then seeing something fall outside the big hallway window, as a mixture of glass and burst of bright red splatters hit it. But having no time to freeze in shock, we ran down the steps and out the door to a big cloud of smoke and flames, and what was it that fell? A man, yelling for his child. There is a lot that happened between this moment and today. That day six people were lost, and 12 were injured. The hotel had its faults. The person who caused it, had a target. Red Cross is a EXTRAORDINARY organization! Fire, EMT, Police, All first responders deserve respect!!! The bottom line is we are all broken, in one way or the other. And to be entirely honest, this experience has triggered great anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and PTSD,(all of which are being watched under doctor’s care- medicine, breathing, and knowing WHO’s I am is a HUGE part of my daily healing) that is wider and deeper than this one day. I do encourage you to this look up. Pray for those involved and the families of those who were lost.

Note: Mental illness is very real! We do not need to be afraid of confronting it for ourselves and for others! The words disability, disorder, do not need to be eliminated from our vocabulary. And we are doing an injustice when we diagnose others, and fail to actually take time to care and get them the right doctors and the right help. SPEAK UP!

Now let’s have some LIFE snapshots:

February 2005: My brother gets married! And they live nearby, that’s a happy thing!

2008: I had the great blessing of having all four of my grandparents in the same town, all of my “growing years.” My dad’s parents, lived a few miles away, but where my family lived was the “old family farm,” as they called it. We called them Nannie and Al-Paw (somehow, my brother and I knocked of the “P” in Pal-Paw, which is what my cousins called him.). They had 4 grandsons and then me, their only granddaughter. (although it seems to have switched, for the great grandchildren :)) In 2008, the reality of their health came fast. Al-Paw had COPD. Nannie was struggling with memory and falling. Being close, in town, and in childcare, I was able to help out with their care, and this was and is one of the many blessings of my life! Al-Paw passed on July 2, 2008. Nannie passed on September 25, 2008. They didn’t have to celebrate a birthday or anniversary apart.

2011: My oh my, my niece has ARRIVED! I am an aunt! O girl, this is going to be fun!! (there will be many more stories!)

2012: When I was born, my mom’s parents lived out of town Monday-Friday, and on Fridays they would come home and stay the weekend at the home she grew up in. They did this until my PawPaw retired. Grandma and PawPaw had three grandsons and then me, their only granddaughter. (which also seemed to have switched with great grandchildren:)) In 2012, Grandma was in a nursing home, due to Parkinson’s and memory. Paw-Paw started out the year with what the doctors thought was pneumonia. A few months later, he was in the ER with congestive heart failure. And then a few months after that he was back in the hospital, and was getting the news that he was part of the 1% of prostate cancer patients that the cancer spreads to their bones, lymph nodes, liver and lungs. Let me just tell you, if you didn’t have the blessing of meeting my PawPaw, he worked in Human Relations for most of his career and he advocated for so many people, and it was our time to advocate for him. And I include this because everyone needs someone to advocate for them! No matter how educated, how strong, fighter or not, we all get weak! And if you have ever associated the words nice, quiet, reserved with my name, then just put me on the phone with a case worker who would like to put my PawPaw in the same nursing home that my Grandma just passed away in… and call me whatever you would like. Because when your grandparents have provided care for you, then you step it up and take care for them! My Grandma ran ahead in July, and my PawPaw in October. They also did not spend a birthday or anniversary apart. (picture above is PawPaw clinging to his clinging cross in the hospital. ❤️)

2014: My nephew arrives! Look Out World! Goody Goody Gumdrops, two littles!

Now, we wait a little longer… for one more little…