31 days of stories - day 1

If you read any amount of blogs, you know that October is usually 31 days of blogging about something near and dear to your heart.

 

Usually lots of thoughts go into these posts and they are written wonderfully, and it is a big deal.

 

I have only a few problems with this.

 

1.  I will never ever be Shannan.

Or Edie.

Never.

These women are masters of the written word.

And they have nice cameras.

Two things crucial to blogging.

 

2.  There is no way I am going to make all 31 days.

But I am going to try.

 

I have gone back and forth on what to write about.

Love?

Loss?

Working?

 

Then I decided I would write about all of these things and write down my favorite stories.

Some family stories.

Some funny stories.

Some sad stories.

You get the idea.

 

 

So here goes:

 

Day 1:  The story of Paige and Ken.

 

You have read about Paige on here a time or 20.

She is my first cousin.

Our mothers are sisters.

She is waaaaay older than me.

12 years.

:)

 

She had a special relationship with my mother and they were very close.

When I came along, I am not exactly sure her 12 year old self was entirely happy to see me.

There are rumors she "accidently" dropped me on my head.

Or let me roll off my changing table.

Or something like that.

The details are unclear.

 

Needless to say, a 12 year age gap is big when you are 5 and 17.

So I hardly remember her in my childhood.

She is gorgeous.

And was all dating and stuff.

I can't believe she chose that over hanging out with a cool kid like me.

 

Then I turned 7.

And we got a call one night that changed us all forever.

And I remember Paige after that.

 

Now, I could get a lot of this wrong.

Cause I was young and we don't talk about the details much anymore.

But this is how I remember things.

 

You see, she and her boyfriend (Ken) were riding a motorcycle on a dark street.

They were hit by a drunk driver.

Just a normal guy who had had too much to drink at a local bar.

 

I believe the bike landed on Paige.

Ken ran to get help.

He had broken bones.

He ran anyway.

 

I remember my mother being gone.

And Paige's parents.

For what seemed like forever to a 7 year old.

 

Then I remember going on a long drive to see her.

She was in a hospital.

I remember them sneaking me in because I was too young to really be back there.

I remember waiting rooms and Uno and looking out a window at tall buildings.

 

This seemed to go on forever.

When in reality I think it was 6 weeks?

 

They were trying to save her leg.

But they couldn't.

She lost her leg below the knee right before Thanksgiving.

At 19 years old.

 

I have never seen her cry about it.

I am sure she has.

A lot.

But I have never seen it.

As a matter of fact, I often forget she is an amputee.

For tiny snippets, I forget.

I don't know if that is good or bad.

 

She went on and finished her degree.

She is a CPA.

She got married.

I was her flowergirl.

I was 9.

 

She endured a lot to have her babies.

Lots of extra surgeries.

And extra pain.

But man alive did she birth some good kids.

Nick and Izzy are terrific.

They were worth it.

 

She has had numerous other serious medical issues due to the accident.

One of which could have cost her her life yet again.

And if I had to guess, I would imagine she is in daily pain.

 

But she is strong.

And I think a lot of her strength comes from Ken.

 

Let me talk a little about Ken.

 

I had a crush on him when I was little. Matter of fact, I may still have a crush on him.  I used to call him raisen head. I used to run my fingers through his hair and call him raisen head.

True Story.

Man, I can't believe I am admitting that.

 

He is the kind of guy who can do anything.

I mean anything.

And he can do it well.

 

He is fun to talk to.

Fun to be around.

 

He calls Ellie Peanut.

And when she is sick, I call Ken.  I mean, my fingers dial the phone before I even realize what I am doing.  He is a dentist, not a medical doctor, but I call him anyway. 

I'm sure it drives him nuts.

He is calming and understanding, and always makes me feel better.

 

He's a cool dude.

 

Anyway, back to the two of them.

 

They have a love story.

 

It is real.

And good.

And honest.

And forever.

 

When they argue, it is passionate.

When they laugh, it is contageous.

When they are together, there is a tangible feeling of their love for one another.

You can feel it.

It is awesome.

 

I don't doubt that for one second that the accident doesn't play a major role in their lives.

In everything from the big decisions to little day to day things.

But if anything I think it makes them better.

 

He is there for her.

She is strong for him.

 

The story of these two is only half written.

I can't wait to see the rest.