Student of the Month for Leesburg High School!!!
I got this letter in the mail last Friday, at a time of day I was at a big time low. Amazing how one letter can bring me up cuz I was so proud, bring me back down cuz I realized I couldn't call his Dad and share the news, bring me back up cuz I was so happy for him. Well you get the picture, right? It's and ongoing mixed bag of crazy emotions.
Anyway, today like everyday I am so proud of that kid of mine {ours}. :)
I have no doubt his Daddy is VERY proud as well, and if I know him probably telling everyone with an ear about his son, who he always called "the light of his life". :)
18 comments:
CONGRATS TO KODY! Again, I have tears, just like you do...so happy and proud for Kody, so glad you got the letter at the very moment you needed it, but so sad Karl couldn't be there. I got tears in my eyes at your last sentence. Through the light of each day Karl will help guide you and your family through this rough road!! Thinking of you, always and sending LOVE & (((HUGS)))...
CONGRATS KODY! Way to go!
That is wonderful! Congrats to Kody!
Cheri
Olympia, WA
Kody follower
Wonderful Kody!! You are a joy and a blessing to your mama - you and Kolin both. And you are definitely an asset to your school. I know they are proud to have you!
Kim, I like the picture of you in the previous post. That looks like a peaceful place to sit and rest a while. As Pooh would say "a thoughtful spot."
Last night my high schooler Hannah was in a serious wreck. Four friends and teammates on the softball team were coming back from watching area play-offs for basketball. They were already back in town and within 10 minutes of home when a lady pulled out in front of them and they slammed on brakes trying to avoid a collision. It was a pretty bad wreck and very scary but thankfully everyone escaped with minor injuries and a frightening night at the hospital. The police came to the hospital and told us the other lady had been drinking and she submitted to blood tests. She is expected to be charged with a DUI when the results come back. It's not going to go well for her but I am so grateful to have my child (and her friends) tonight.
The whole frightening wreck scene and situation brought you to my mind throughout the harrowing night. How frightening and heartbreaking it was for your family to receive the dreadful news. I wish so much that the outcome could have been different for Karl. How I wish he could have walked away from it and come home. I really don't know what happened that fateful afternoon, but I pray he did not suffer. The timeline you mentioned in a previous post was confusing and so much time passed before you even heard? :"( I am just so sorry that this heartache has come to you. I continue to pray for your peace of mind and heart and for our sweet boys, the same. We care for you and we miss Karl as well. I know I do. It's still so hard for me to believe he is gone because I really don't know what happened. Any time you want to talk about him, I will listen. I care.
Have a peaceful Sunday. God bless you and Kody and Kolin.
XOXO
Lynn
It's the little gems like this in the sea of emotions that make life worthwhile.
Congratulations Kody!
Thinking about you a lot today, Kim. Sad to think of tomorrow. I know Karl would have made you coffee and/or breakfast or got you something special as a gift. I do believe Mondays were his day home with you, too. :( Sending hugs, as always....
Way to go Kody!!! Especially with all that has been going on . Keep doing the great work.
I continue to keep you in my prayers.
Hugs from Iowa,
Marjie
Congratulations to Kody! What amazing children you have!
Thank you so much Kendall. :)
Lynn.
OMG I am so happy and so relieved to know that they are OK. As soon as I read the words "serious wreck" I have to admit my mind went crazy, I didn't want to read anymore thinking Oh God no, please don't let me read bad news. Whew...please give your daughter a hug from me.
Yes, unfortunately the time line is correct.
The crash occurred at approx. 5:15 PM. His two bosses were on the scene about 20-30 minutes later. They saw him {his body} laying in the road. EMS officially declared him dead at 5:49.
His company knew yet NOBODY came to our home, not a phone call nothing. The kids and I were told by a State Trooper 11:30 something that night. No chaplain, priest nobody, just a few very cold words telling us he was killed in a wreck and a piece of paper with the medical examiners address and phone number on it telling us that is where he was at and we could identify his body in the morning.
This is still such a nightmare, nightmares...those are dreams that come to us at night. Not mine, my nightmares start every morning when I open my eyes and realize he is not here sleeping next to me, not in the kitchen making coffee, not here in the house anywhere and he is never, ever coming back.
I read a book recently that says when you lose a spouse {or loved one} that you are living in "Never Ever Land".
How true is that. :(
Congrats to Kody! That is wonderful!! Keep up that good work. Kim, I am thinking of you each and every day......
SO GREAT for our Kody. I am so proud of him, he is quite an old soul, every time I talk to him I am amazed.
I am glad you felt you could share the details with us. I have had so many questions but did not want to ask and bring all that to the surface.
I am sorry about today, it is not a happy day for everybody and people need to be sensitive to that. I love you all, CJ
Way to go Kody!!
Jen from WI
First, thank you for responding and I'm sorry to have scared you with our experience from Friday night. I should have prefaced it with 'ALL IS WELL BUT WE HAD A SCARE...' How DUMB of me! Thanks for loving me despite the clumsiness!
As to what you replied...
Oh no. :"( That is HORRIBLE, how you were given the news. HORRIBLE. I just don't even know what to say - this is a terrible terrible way to learn of a terrible tragedy. There is something VERY WRONG in that department's managing of traffic fatalities. I know you don't care to deal with them on this issue right now.. but one day in the future, for the sake of others who will find themselves in this unbearable situation, you might clue these tools in on a little compassion 101 - how to deal more gently and compassionately with families who are just about to receive life altering news.
This was terribly COLD and even CRUEL. First - You should have been notified right away. I'm pretty sure he was driving with a license and a tag - both easily and quickly tracked to your home. That info should have been dispatched to the local authorities, who should have immediately gone to your home.
And WHY on earth did the co-workers who came upon that scene not go immediately to your house?? What is wrong with people?? My first thought if I had been there would have been 'I have to go to Kim so she is not alone right now - she needs loving support when she hears this' because I would be thinking someone you didn't know would be relaying this news to you shortly.
Sigh.
I'm just so very sorry that you were treated in such a way at a time when you most needed a gentle, caring, compassionate person to help in the smallest way to buffer the impact of such dreadful news.
I hope in some way that you feel the love, the prayers and hugs that come to you from our hearts here. I know we are small comfort, but our concern is genuine and our love and sorrow is near to you, despite the miles that separate us.
I can't believe he just lay on the road. :"( My heart is broken. Was there anyone who stopped and knelt close to him and held his hand and talked to him as he lay there dying? Was he conscious at all? Was he thrown from the vehicle?
I'm sorry if I ask too many questions that cause pain. I don't mean to do that at all. Never want to hurt you in your grief. I guess it's hard for me to process that this has happened since I knew no details. Not that you ever owe me anything at all. But you guys are friends even if only through our online connection. Over the years I have grown to know you and Karl, we have clowned around at times in the past. Karl was so likeable despite his flaws and shortcomings. There was much good in him and although he was a tough guy, he was also a tender person and comfortable in his own skin. His delight in life was his family and that was well known. There is just a friendship I felt with you two.
Cont'd in 2nd comment.....
Rest of comment...
When traumatic things happen I am the sort of person who needs to know as much information as possible in order to cope and process it all. I have to go over and over the details in my mind in order to come to grips with things like this.
This is the reason I ask questions but please know you never have to answer. On the other hand, I know that when things have happened in my own life, if someone cared and wanted to listen, it helped me to tell it (sometimes over and over.) In some weird way, each time it helped to validate the finality of what had happened and it helped me to grieve by getting it out little by little. Sometimes we have to do that repeatedly, until we don't feel such a urgent need anymore, until our minds and hearts have sufficiently processed the trauma.
Maybe you feel similarly, or maybe you are quite opposite. I just want you to know that IF it helps to talk it out, there are people here who truly love and care for yall and will listen and share the pain and hopefully in some small way, it will help as you work through it. I know Shiela feels this way about you! Others do as well.
I'm rambling on... wish we were sitting at the kitchen table rambling on with a cup of coffee. That way we could throw a few hugs in there too. :")
No matter how much I may bumble what I want to say, and might say things that don't help (I hope not though) - I hope the love behind the words always comes through.
I'm a bit north of you in the SE corner of Alabama now. It's a beautiful day for us both today - warm and sunny. I hope you and the boys can go out for a walk and breathe some fresh air and let the sun warm your skin.
((((((( BIG HUGS )))))))
Lynn
I can't help but leave yet another comment. Lynn's reply made me stop and think about so many things with your family over the years.
Kim, seeing your post the other day with all the times hurt my heart, as I still can't believe the amount of time that lapsed between Karl's accident and when the police finally knocked on your door. Your poor kids should have been settling in for their long night of sleep...not being told so 'casually' by a police officer that their father was not coming home. Lynn is correct...there are MANY of us out here that care. That are willing to "listen" and lend an "ear". Like so many of us, we all feel like we know your family, even if "just" through Kody's CB site and now your Blog. My biggest regret? That when my family came to FL last year I didn't plan a side trip to meet you, Karl, and the kids. I still smile, thinking back to the time when I had not stopped by your site for a long time and KARL was the one that noticed. He was such a great man. A wonderful husband and father and I'm sure a wonderful friend. Hang in there...you KNOW you've got tons of us thinking of you all the time! :)
Love ya!
Glad you found those words useful Kim. I thought you might.
I'm astounded at the behavior of Karl's bosses were on scene but failed to contact you.
As for the coldness displayed by FHP, something similar happened to my family and I wrote a letter to the agency responsible. I received a phone call and a personally delivered letter of apology from the administrator in charge of that agency. I know that doesn't bring Karl back but it may prevent another family from being dealt with so coldly.
My letter compelled my local ES to conduct sensitivity training.
Hang in there sister. Every day = more progress.
What Lynn has written rings so true for so many of us. We are here for you, we love you and although you may not feel blessed right now, you are. The strength of all the K's has really come out and all are really 'keeping it real' in their writing. It's raw and it's real and it's wonderful. So so sad it had to come out because of hurt and tragedy. Hugs and love, CJ
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