Saturday, May 24, 2003 is a day I will never forget. Not because of the fact that it was the day of my eighth grade formal, but because it was the day that my mom’s life almost came to an end.
On that particular day, my mom was throwing my class an eighth grade formal because we went to a Christian school and dances weren’t allowed. So she took it on herself to give us one. Therefore, the day was spent decorating, cooking, preparing gift bags, etc. All the while, my brother and I complained because helping her was not how we planned to spend our Saturday. But at 4 o’clock everything was just about done and my dad told my mom he was going to take my brother to the activity center to wait on people to arrive, while he went to get ice for the event. Dad told me to stay with mom so I could help her load up the van.
On the way to the center, my mom realized she had forgotten the pot of potatoes so we had to go back home to get them. As she was loading them in the car, she dropped them and water sloshed out of the pot. I knew she would be mad so I ran into the house to get a towel. When I came back outside, she was sitting in the seat with her feet hanging out of the car. I handed her the towel and I could tell something was wrong. She told me that I needed to go get help. I ran across the street and got my neighbor.
Immediately my neighbor knew something was wrong. We called 911 and they sent an ambulance right away. My mom explained to the paramedics that her head felt like it was in a drum. They asked her to climb onto the stretcher and she informed them that she couldn’t move her legs. They immediately thought she might have had a stroke.
I was all alone and scared to death. I tried calling my dad but I got no answer. My uncle volunteered to go find dad and he happened to see his truck stopped at a relative’s. He ran in, told Dad what happened, and told him to get to the hospital.
After arriving at the hospital, my dad went in the ER to see my mom. An hour later he came out crying. He said my mom’s brain was bleeding and they were flying her to Moses Cone to meet a neurologist to see what was going on. And on top of that she was sick. To most people that was not very relevant but for my mom that was very unusual. My dad told everyone in the 35 years he had known my mother, he had never seen her throw up.
My dad wouldn’t allow me to come to Cone until I could come with my sister. We couldn’t get in touch with her until almost eleven o’clock so we didn’t arrive at the hospital till almost midnight. When we got there, the nurse said the doctor was talking to my dad. She pointed us down the hallway to where they were. To this day I can remember looking down that hallway and thinking it looked a mile long. I can still feel my heart pounding and my knees shaking. We arrived just in time to hear the doctor say that 90% of people die on the spot when an aneurysm bursts. I knew about aneurysms. My grandpa and great grandma had died from them. He told my dad the fact that she was still alive meant she was a fighter. However, with surgery, there was still no promise that she would make it. But Dad persisted that they go on.
They took us to see her before her surgery and I barely recognized her. She had so many tubes coming out of her that I could only see her cheeks on her face… not even her nose or mouth. I can still see all the monitors and hear the beep beep beep of them.
When we came out into the waiting room, there must have been fifty people in there that we knew! We all stood around praying for mom. Her surgery began at 1am and she came out of it at 4:30am. She had made it but she was in a coma.
After 1 week in a coma, 1 week in the highest level of intensive care, and 1 week in a regular room, my mom came home. The fastest anyone had ever recovered from something like that! Only .01% of people ever recovered as well as she did.
I’m blessed to say that my mom is still alive today and is doing just fine!
5.24.2011
4.26.2011
Our "Wedding"
Most of you are not aware that Kevin and I got "married" back in February. It was a beautiful ceremony in which my teammates were happy to step in. Watch the video and you'll understand (:
Here is the video of our lovely soloist... Miss Kary Diorio (:
Here is the video of our lovely soloist... Miss Kary Diorio (:
4.13.2011
How to Make a Beautiful Life Together
So today at school one of the teachers I work with gave me a card that I just had to share with the internet world.
How to Make a Beautiful Life Together
Let love be your shelter.
The world is noisy and confusing at times,
so make a home that is a haven,
a peaceful place where you can listen to your hearts
and savor the comfortable closeness you share.
No matter how busy your days may be,
make time for yourselves.
Hold hands.
Unwind.
Surprise each other.
Find little chances every day to show you're grateful
to be partners, to be friends, to be married.
Life is not perfect.
You will make mistakes
but each time you meet life's challenges together,
you will grow wiser, stronger, and surer of your love.
Cherish your yesterdays.
They are irreplacable souveniers of your journey through life.
Make memories that will bring smiles and sighs whenever you look back.
(Look back often!)
Look forward, too.
Dream together.
Plan together.
Make promises to keep.
Believe in your tomorrows,
because tomorrows are what forever is made of.
To make love last,
put each other first.
That is the way to make a beautiful life together,
the kind of life you both deserve so much.
How to Make a Beautiful Life Together
Let love be your shelter.
The world is noisy and confusing at times,
so make a home that is a haven,
a peaceful place where you can listen to your hearts
and savor the comfortable closeness you share.
No matter how busy your days may be,
make time for yourselves.
Hold hands.
Unwind.
Surprise each other.
Find little chances every day to show you're grateful
to be partners, to be friends, to be married.
Life is not perfect.
You will make mistakes
but each time you meet life's challenges together,
you will grow wiser, stronger, and surer of your love.
Cherish your yesterdays.
They are irreplacable souveniers of your journey through life.
Make memories that will bring smiles and sighs whenever you look back.
(Look back often!)
Look forward, too.
Dream together.
Plan together.
Make promises to keep.
Believe in your tomorrows,
because tomorrows are what forever is made of.
To make love last,
put each other first.
That is the way to make a beautiful life together,
the kind of life you both deserve so much.
4.01.2011
A Sudden Urge to Travel
For the past 6 weeks, I have had these very sudden and very strong urges to travel pretty much anywhere and everywhere! I cannot pinpoint the exact catalyst of this urge but I have a pretty good suspicion that it has been caused by two events. One being that now all I want to do is go outside due to the gorgeous weather and beautiful blooming flowers. The second reason being that since I'm fixing to get married, I have all of these hopes and dreams of weekend getaways with my soon to be hubby! Either way, the thought of traveling is a constant in my mind.
Over the past few weeks I've come up with a list of places I want to go within the next year. They are as follows:
1. Greenville, SC- I had the opportunity to visit Greenville, SC five years ago when I was doing the whole college-hunt thing. While I was there, I fell head over heels in love with the city. It was as if it came straight out of a movie. Downtown is lined with little shops and boutiques and has an abundance of little restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops that include the black iron wraught tables that sit out front where customers can sit and drink their coffee and eat their delectable goodies. The streets contain black post lamps that illuminate the sidewalks and little shops at night. In the evenings, you can see couples walking hand-in-hand along the sidewalks or families holding a little toddler's hand while pushing a stroller with the other. Its just like a movie scene! Not too far from downtown is a large park! This park is really why I love the city! The park has a swinging bridge and a huuuuuge waterfall that is just absolutely perfect! The park is gorgeous with it's rivers, bridges, and abundance of tulips, daisies, orchids, and a variety of other flowers. The park itself is also perfect for a movie set. As you walk the trails, you will see couple's picnicing together on blankets, families laughing and playing, and of course, you will see men and women throwing frisbees to their beloved dogs! Its just absolutely perfect!
2. Charleston, SC- I absolutely, without a doubt, want to go visit Charleston Waterfront Park at least once in my lifetime! The thought of just sitting on park benches overlooking the water at sunset or sunrise is soooo unbelievably appealing to me. Just the thought relaxes me! I also would love to go visit many of the historic plantation homes that are located in Charleston! I love history and just the thought of walking where so much history took place gives me chills.
3. Washington, DC- As a history buff, you have to understand I can't get enough of Washington! In fact, when I was doing the whole college hunt thing, I considered going to George Washington University just so I could be right in the heart of D.C. Its been a while since I've been to D.C. and its been even longer since Kevin has been, so I'd love to take him to show him all that has changed. I want to go walk the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. I want to walk into the center of the Library of Congress and slowly turn around and see the spines of 33 million books. I want to sit in the presence of the Supreme Court justices and hear them deliberate constitutional issues. I want to walk all 897 steps of the Washington Monument... however, I think I'll take the elevator down. I want to visit the Vietnam Memorial and look up Michael J. Mummel's name again. I want to walk around Arlington National Cemetary and be humbled and become more appreciative of the 300,000 men and women who gave up their lives for MY freedom. I want to visit the Holocaust Museum and see how fortunate I am to not have to live under such oppression. I want to visit Ford's Theater and see where President Lincoln was shot, as I've never had the opportunity to do so. I want to go to the International Spy Museum and play around with all of the equipment that US Spies can use! Its soooo much fun! Of course, I HAVE to visit the National Air and Space Museum seeing as how The Wright Brothers are my relatives. And I guess while we are there, I have to take Kevin to the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium so he can watch his beloved Redskins play. All in all, you can tell, it is by far my favorite place in the whole entire world and the one place I most definitely have to go visit by the end of the year!
Over the past few weeks I've come up with a list of places I want to go within the next year. They are as follows:
1. Greenville, SC- I had the opportunity to visit Greenville, SC five years ago when I was doing the whole college-hunt thing. While I was there, I fell head over heels in love with the city. It was as if it came straight out of a movie. Downtown is lined with little shops and boutiques and has an abundance of little restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops that include the black iron wraught tables that sit out front where customers can sit and drink their coffee and eat their delectable goodies. The streets contain black post lamps that illuminate the sidewalks and little shops at night. In the evenings, you can see couples walking hand-in-hand along the sidewalks or families holding a little toddler's hand while pushing a stroller with the other. Its just like a movie scene! Not too far from downtown is a large park! This park is really why I love the city! The park has a swinging bridge and a huuuuuge waterfall that is just absolutely perfect! The park is gorgeous with it's rivers, bridges, and abundance of tulips, daisies, orchids, and a variety of other flowers. The park itself is also perfect for a movie set. As you walk the trails, you will see couple's picnicing together on blankets, families laughing and playing, and of course, you will see men and women throwing frisbees to their beloved dogs! Its just absolutely perfect!
2. Charleston, SC- I absolutely, without a doubt, want to go visit Charleston Waterfront Park at least once in my lifetime! The thought of just sitting on park benches overlooking the water at sunset or sunrise is soooo unbelievably appealing to me. Just the thought relaxes me! I also would love to go visit many of the historic plantation homes that are located in Charleston! I love history and just the thought of walking where so much history took place gives me chills.
3. Washington, DC- As a history buff, you have to understand I can't get enough of Washington! In fact, when I was doing the whole college hunt thing, I considered going to George Washington University just so I could be right in the heart of D.C. Its been a while since I've been to D.C. and its been even longer since Kevin has been, so I'd love to take him to show him all that has changed. I want to go walk the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. I want to walk into the center of the Library of Congress and slowly turn around and see the spines of 33 million books. I want to sit in the presence of the Supreme Court justices and hear them deliberate constitutional issues. I want to walk all 897 steps of the Washington Monument... however, I think I'll take the elevator down. I want to visit the Vietnam Memorial and look up Michael J. Mummel's name again. I want to walk around Arlington National Cemetary and be humbled and become more appreciative of the 300,000 men and women who gave up their lives for MY freedom. I want to visit the Holocaust Museum and see how fortunate I am to not have to live under such oppression. I want to visit Ford's Theater and see where President Lincoln was shot, as I've never had the opportunity to do so. I want to go to the International Spy Museum and play around with all of the equipment that US Spies can use! Its soooo much fun! Of course, I HAVE to visit the National Air and Space Museum seeing as how The Wright Brothers are my relatives. And I guess while we are there, I have to take Kevin to the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium so he can watch his beloved Redskins play. All in all, you can tell, it is by far my favorite place in the whole entire world and the one place I most definitely have to go visit by the end of the year!
3.25.2011
Teacher Humor
Are you sick of high paid teachers? Teachers’ hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - baby sit! We can get that for less than minimum wage.
That’s right. Let’s give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM
with 45 min. off for lunch and plan — that equals 6 1/2 hours).
Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.
Now how many do they teach in day…maybe 30? So that’s $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.
LET’S SEE…. That’s $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).
What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children
X 180 days = $280,800 per year.
Wait a minute — there’s something wrong here! There sure is!
The average teacher’s salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student–a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your
kids!)
WHAT A DEAL!!!!
That’s right. Let’s give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM
with 45 min. off for lunch and plan — that equals 6 1/2 hours).
Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.
Now how many do they teach in day…maybe 30? So that’s $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.
LET’S SEE…. That’s $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).
What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children
X 180 days = $280,800 per year.
Wait a minute — there’s something wrong here! There sure is!
The average teacher’s salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student–a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your
kids!)
WHAT A DEAL!!!!
