Tuesday morning, May 21. Yesterday was an anniversary I don't usually like to think about, but my daughter chose to use it as an opportunity to celebrate life, and I like that. On May 20, 2005, a criminal, who didn't like the way my daughter looked (yes looked), from her car, at his girlfriend, and so followed her, in their car....and shot her, in the head. With a .38, in the head. Wow- I mean what goes on inside somebody's head to think that's ok. Yeah I guess that's where the criminal part comes in. Well as it turns out, it was a day of miracles, and the miracles continued. Her foot slipped off the accelerator and the car rolled into a fence and stopped. She didn't know what happened except she couldn't see. She did not lose consciousness, and the miracles begin. She had to climb out the passenger side, and the bullet FELL out of her head. Help came quickly cause she was right next to the highway- yeah thank God for that fence. We got the call, and her dad was home and I was at work. I have a fleeting memory of running all the stop signs and stop lights from work to home (which was on the way), scared he would head up there without me, and he was in the driveway when I got there. It was Friday afternoon at 5pm, and the highway was totally congested with commute traffic, but next miracle- it just opened up for us and we flew up the road towards the hospital in Santa Rosa. I called the hospital and they put me thru to the emergency room AND they let me talk to her! We arrived amidst a bunch of cops and I ran right thru the security they had set up- nothing was going to keep me from my kid.My beautiful wonderful fantastic 20 yr old daughter. She was scared and so was I. The attending physician said she had been shot, that there was a hole in her head....that he could see her brain. (writing this part - well it's reliving it). Ok well when I'm terrified, I make a joke, so I said -oh so you can see there's one in there! The doctor was shocked, but Drewy made kind of a laughy sound and said "Oh Mom"...and we were better.
She had to have a surgery, to "clean up" a little. When the doctor told us that, her dad started to faint and he had to catch him. Afterwards they told us it was a miracle, that they had never seen anything like it. So your brain sits in a bag called the durum. (not sure of the spelling here). The bullet broke thru her skull, ripped thru the durum, touched her brain, and stopped. They told us she would need extensive therapy, speech and maybe other types, depending on the damage; she might have issues with things like memory....ok enough said...well she was only in the hospital for a few days. She was there as "Jane Doe" while the police tried to figure out if it was gang related.... So she came home and stayed with us. At first, in the hospital too, she couldn't remember the word for something and was really frustrated, in fact we still laugh about "bill hillys!" (hillbillys) she would say words backwards...
She had speech therapy for a very short few weeks, and she recovered...100%!!! She had to have brain scans for a few months and then once a year for a few years, and she's fine, she's perfect, she's 100%!!!! My beautiful daughter is perfect. I still worry about her, I wish she had to wear a helmet ha ha.
So that was 8 years ago and my daughter is perfect (did I say that already?) Sometimes when she's very agitated, she messes up her words, hmmm would that happen anyway? So last nite I saw her chatting about it on Facebook and her friends all telling her how much they love her. Then later she told me in our private chat that they are having dinner with a few close friends and her sister to celebrate she's alive. Then we talked about her making this date be a "pay it forward" day for her, a day or a weekend to give back in some way, volunteer somewhere or just do something, anything to be grateful for her life. Yeah, she wasn't done here on earth, thank you God for that. Miracles are always God's work and my daughter is living proof of so many miracles. I love you Drewy.
Ok this post wiped me out. More later. As always, viva.
(oh and by the way- the criminal is in prison for 31 years, not eligible for parole for 27 years- good.)
She had to have a surgery, to "clean up" a little. When the doctor told us that, her dad started to faint and he had to catch him. Afterwards they told us it was a miracle, that they had never seen anything like it. So your brain sits in a bag called the durum. (not sure of the spelling here). The bullet broke thru her skull, ripped thru the durum, touched her brain, and stopped. They told us she would need extensive therapy, speech and maybe other types, depending on the damage; she might have issues with things like memory....ok enough said...well she was only in the hospital for a few days. She was there as "Jane Doe" while the police tried to figure out if it was gang related.... So she came home and stayed with us. At first, in the hospital too, she couldn't remember the word for something and was really frustrated, in fact we still laugh about "bill hillys!" (hillbillys) she would say words backwards...
She had speech therapy for a very short few weeks, and she recovered...100%!!! She had to have brain scans for a few months and then once a year for a few years, and she's fine, she's perfect, she's 100%!!!! My beautiful daughter is perfect. I still worry about her, I wish she had to wear a helmet ha ha.
So that was 8 years ago and my daughter is perfect (did I say that already?) Sometimes when she's very agitated, she messes up her words, hmmm would that happen anyway? So last nite I saw her chatting about it on Facebook and her friends all telling her how much they love her. Then later she told me in our private chat that they are having dinner with a few close friends and her sister to celebrate she's alive. Then we talked about her making this date be a "pay it forward" day for her, a day or a weekend to give back in some way, volunteer somewhere or just do something, anything to be grateful for her life. Yeah, she wasn't done here on earth, thank you God for that. Miracles are always God's work and my daughter is living proof of so many miracles. I love you Drewy.
Ok this post wiped me out. More later. As always, viva.
(oh and by the way- the criminal is in prison for 31 years, not eligible for parole for 27 years- good.)
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