when it all goes right.
And other days
it all crashes down.
Yet every day
there are some smiles
and some laughs
some tears
and some fears.
And most days
things get done
and we go home
ready for the next
day.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Finish Line
The sharp pain struck my knee with every thud to the concrete below my Nike Pegasus shoes. I clenched my teeth in agony and high fived a few spectators in the street. I heard the crowd at the finish line over the loud speaker announcing runners who crossed before me but could not see the glorious end point. Dragging my feet around the corner, I glaced up to see balloons and dozens of people lined up along the final gate. I picked my feet up off the ground and sprinted for the finish. My legs riveted with pain as I crossed the finish. My whole body shook as it tried to maintain temperature. I fought to control the tears as they welled up in my eyes. My family asked me to pose for pictures but only got a few before the stream of tears flowed down my face. I crossed through the shoot confused, shaking, and cold. My Aunt found me wandering around like a lost duckling and walked me over to the medical tent. The doctors rushed me onto a cot and rubbed my legs while my body shook from the shade.
And I did it all over again the year after.
And I did it all over again the year after.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Grains of Sand
Building a sandcastle with words
Each grain of sand unique on its own
Molded together to build anew
Without structure, they lay flat
Moisture working like conjunctions
Pulling together the grains
Waves pushing and pulling
Restructuring and rebuilding
And finally...a multi layer majesty
We walk away before the big wave.
Each grain of sand unique on its own
Molded together to build anew
Without structure, they lay flat
Moisture working like conjunctions
Pulling together the grains
Waves pushing and pulling
Restructuring and rebuilding
And finally...a multi layer majesty
We walk away before the big wave.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Run For Those Who Can't
Many runners have mantras that go through their heads to guide them through the toughest of mental struggles during a run. I've heard everything from "I will survive" to "tall and strong" and "light and focused". The running mantra that I use the most is "Run For Those Who Can't".
I run for my grandmother, Rachel Sterne, and uncle, David Sterne who unfortunately are not here with us today. My grandmother used to love to go on walks around her Kansas City, Missouri neighborhood and I run to keep her memory alive.
My grandmother was a generous woman with a compassionate heart. My earliest memories of her were when she fixed zuchinni bread for my cousins and me during a visit to Kansas City. We took a trip with her to Oklahoma to find our heritage and I ended up with an infection and she had her careful eye on me for the entire trip. I would later remember my grandmother hooked up to IVs and tubes in her hospital room in Kansas City. She had purchased all of our Christmas presents back in the summer to prepare her for this moment.
I didn't have a clue as to what was going on with my grandmother at the time. My mom told me that she was getting a tumor removed. What I didn't know was that the tumor was caused by a genetic disorder, Neurofibromatosis. The tumor was cancerous and the doctors found that it had spread too much when they went to remove it. It had also released a lot of adrenaline causing a very complicated surgery. Eventually, they were able to remove the tumor but only with a tough diagnosis-- my grandmother had only a few more months left. My grandmother was undoubtedly worn from the physical and emotional stress of going through this surgery just as many other patients with Neurofibromatosis go through.
What I didn't know about my grandmother is that she had already overcome so many other struggles in her lifetime. She had been in a car accident with my Uncle David. David was the youngest of 7 and was driving the car at the time. My grandmother foresaw the accident happening in front of her and grabbed the handle on the door. This opened the door and my grandmother flew out of the moving vehicle. She was in a coma for a very long time and the doctors said that she was not going to make it. The doctors wanted to take her off of life support but my family refused to let it happen. My grandmother, Rachel Sterne, lived through that horrible car accident. She sustained major brain damage and had to learn to do do everything all over again. She performed miracles by becoming a grandmother who nurtured me during tough times like when the boy down the street chased me down with a mouse or when my baby brother was born and we were moving across the country.
My uncle, David Sterne, came out of the accident walking and talking fine. However, he sustained one large side effect. Just like my grandmother, David had Neurofibromatosis. It was believed that the accident caused his symptoms to flare up and he was diagnosed with cancer attributed to Neurofibromatosis. I can't remember visiting David in the hospital, but there are pictures of my cousin and I holding hands as we went to see him. David died before I really ever got to know him but the memories of him are still very much alive. My mother has told me about how David used to play practical jokes on her all the time and about how he always had a smile on his face. She told me about how my grandpa used to sneak David out of school so that they could go fishing together. I've seen the tears roll down my mother's cheek as she tells me the story about how David had called all of his friends in to say goodbye one last time.
My grandmother and grandfather had a very hard time after the death of their youngest son. This created an even harder time for my grandmother as she laid in the hosptial years later during the removal of her tumor. The surgery went well and my mom flew home to be with us kids for awhile. Meanwhile, my grandmother contracted pneumonia in the hospital. She was tired of struggling and did not want to be treated. My mom planned a trip back to Kansas City and called my grandmother. Grandma told my mother something that she will never forget. "David is in the parking lot waiting for me. I have to be going now." The nurse in the room said, "Rachel, now you know there is no one out there." My grandmother went to be with David shortly after.
My grandmother was only in her 60s when she died. It is hard for me not to be upset that I missed out on spending more time with her but I believe that she has been watching me. I wish I had gotten the chance to actually get to know the uncle that everyone called the jokester. David was younger than I am today when he passed away. They are the reasons that I run and the reason for my mantra.
I run for my grandmother, Rachel Sterne, and uncle, David Sterne who unfortunately are not here with us today. My grandmother used to love to go on walks around her Kansas City, Missouri neighborhood and I run to keep her memory alive.
My grandmother was a generous woman with a compassionate heart. My earliest memories of her were when she fixed zuchinni bread for my cousins and me during a visit to Kansas City. We took a trip with her to Oklahoma to find our heritage and I ended up with an infection and she had her careful eye on me for the entire trip. I would later remember my grandmother hooked up to IVs and tubes in her hospital room in Kansas City. She had purchased all of our Christmas presents back in the summer to prepare her for this moment.
I didn't have a clue as to what was going on with my grandmother at the time. My mom told me that she was getting a tumor removed. What I didn't know was that the tumor was caused by a genetic disorder, Neurofibromatosis. The tumor was cancerous and the doctors found that it had spread too much when they went to remove it. It had also released a lot of adrenaline causing a very complicated surgery. Eventually, they were able to remove the tumor but only with a tough diagnosis-- my grandmother had only a few more months left. My grandmother was undoubtedly worn from the physical and emotional stress of going through this surgery just as many other patients with Neurofibromatosis go through.
What I didn't know about my grandmother is that she had already overcome so many other struggles in her lifetime. She had been in a car accident with my Uncle David. David was the youngest of 7 and was driving the car at the time. My grandmother foresaw the accident happening in front of her and grabbed the handle on the door. This opened the door and my grandmother flew out of the moving vehicle. She was in a coma for a very long time and the doctors said that she was not going to make it. The doctors wanted to take her off of life support but my family refused to let it happen. My grandmother, Rachel Sterne, lived through that horrible car accident. She sustained major brain damage and had to learn to do do everything all over again. She performed miracles by becoming a grandmother who nurtured me during tough times like when the boy down the street chased me down with a mouse or when my baby brother was born and we were moving across the country.
My uncle, David Sterne, came out of the accident walking and talking fine. However, he sustained one large side effect. Just like my grandmother, David had Neurofibromatosis. It was believed that the accident caused his symptoms to flare up and he was diagnosed with cancer attributed to Neurofibromatosis. I can't remember visiting David in the hospital, but there are pictures of my cousin and I holding hands as we went to see him. David died before I really ever got to know him but the memories of him are still very much alive. My mother has told me about how David used to play practical jokes on her all the time and about how he always had a smile on his face. She told me about how my grandpa used to sneak David out of school so that they could go fishing together. I've seen the tears roll down my mother's cheek as she tells me the story about how David had called all of his friends in to say goodbye one last time.
My grandmother and grandfather had a very hard time after the death of their youngest son. This created an even harder time for my grandmother as she laid in the hosptial years later during the removal of her tumor. The surgery went well and my mom flew home to be with us kids for awhile. Meanwhile, my grandmother contracted pneumonia in the hospital. She was tired of struggling and did not want to be treated. My mom planned a trip back to Kansas City and called my grandmother. Grandma told my mother something that she will never forget. "David is in the parking lot waiting for me. I have to be going now." The nurse in the room said, "Rachel, now you know there is no one out there." My grandmother went to be with David shortly after.
My grandmother was only in her 60s when she died. It is hard for me not to be upset that I missed out on spending more time with her but I believe that she has been watching me. I wish I had gotten the chance to actually get to know the uncle that everyone called the jokester. David was younger than I am today when he passed away. They are the reasons that I run and the reason for my mantra.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Please Don't Squeeze the Calico
Lucy was my first cat. She slept around my head at night smothering my nostrils with loose calico fur. Mom would come in and remove the furry ear muffs from my bed every night in fear of suffocation. It was my bed that Lucy gave birth to kittens under when dad thought that she was "leaking water" in the house. Yet for some reason, we always seemed to find some sort of torture for our lovable kitty.
My younger brother, Jeremy, used to tell me that if you squeezed Lucy hard enough, she would say "Matt!!". We continuously squeezed poor Lucy until she would scream out the name. Well, one time, Lucy got mad and rather tired of screaming "Matt" and decided to scratch and bite me in order to get me to stop. I screamed at the top of my lungs and mom came down to rescue me. Just like she would do to me and my brothers when we were in trouble, she held Lucy next to me and told her to tell me "sorry". Somehow, Lucy's unspoken "sorry" made me feel all the more better and we continued being friends.
Mom would later find Jeremy to be the culprit of another crime to the cat. Mom used to Vaseline Jeremy's nose because it would frequently get chapped from being a snotty little kid. Jeremy, decided that this vaseline could make a wonderful costume for the kitty. He smeared Lucy with vaseline from head to toe. Mom came into the room to find a cat that looked more like a rat, covered in a greasy substance. She instantly tried to put Lucy into the bath tub but Lucy decided that she would rather have to deal with her new costume then ever step foot into the bath tub. Mom ended up a scratched mess and Lucy won that battle. She would be named "the cat that looked like a rat" by our neighbors for months later.
There were many more incidents to shape Lucy's life within our house--including getting slammed in a door that resulted in a bented tail--but Lucy always came back to my bed at night and nestled around my head.
My younger brother, Jeremy, used to tell me that if you squeezed Lucy hard enough, she would say "Matt!!". We continuously squeezed poor Lucy until she would scream out the name. Well, one time, Lucy got mad and rather tired of screaming "Matt" and decided to scratch and bite me in order to get me to stop. I screamed at the top of my lungs and mom came down to rescue me. Just like she would do to me and my brothers when we were in trouble, she held Lucy next to me and told her to tell me "sorry". Somehow, Lucy's unspoken "sorry" made me feel all the more better and we continued being friends.
Mom would later find Jeremy to be the culprit of another crime to the cat. Mom used to Vaseline Jeremy's nose because it would frequently get chapped from being a snotty little kid. Jeremy, decided that this vaseline could make a wonderful costume for the kitty. He smeared Lucy with vaseline from head to toe. Mom came into the room to find a cat that looked more like a rat, covered in a greasy substance. She instantly tried to put Lucy into the bath tub but Lucy decided that she would rather have to deal with her new costume then ever step foot into the bath tub. Mom ended up a scratched mess and Lucy won that battle. She would be named "the cat that looked like a rat" by our neighbors for months later.
There were many more incidents to shape Lucy's life within our house--including getting slammed in a door that resulted in a bented tail--but Lucy always came back to my bed at night and nestled around my head.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Death
Death. I have always been afraid of it. In fact, I've been searching for a blog to write about for months. I realized that I was in fact just avoiding this blog and this topic.
I used to tell my friends not to talk about death around me. I wouldn't even say the word. I disguised the word by calling it "The 'D' Word". Many of my relatives have passed on throughout my lifetime but none of it seemed to really sink in until this past January.
On January 9th, I received a spine tingling voicemail on my phone from my boyfriend, Andy, about the death of his brother. Never has it hit so hard as it did then. I had met Matt on multiple occasions before. We helped Andy roof his house that past summer. We had seen him just weeks earlier at Christmas dinner. He had been wrestling on the floor with Andy. And then the night before, he had called Andy to borrow his snowmobile helmet. I had heard his voice on the phone right next to me.
I've been trying hard to be the support that Andy needs. I was there at his side for all of the preparations and the funeral. It is hard to see someone that you love so much going through so much pain. Sometimes I wish I could rewind time. I wish I could do the impossible and bring Matt back to his brother and family. I wish I could have gotten to know him more.
My mind starts to wonder more lately. I've started to think hard about life. I believe in God and know that Matt is with him in heaven right now. Sometimes I just wish I could give Andy some sort of assurance that Matt is up there looking down right now. I want him to have one last conversation with his brother. I wish we could write letters to Matt and he could send them down to us from heaven. I feel like such a child for saying such strange things.
What will it be like up there for the rest of us? I start to become worried about everything. I worry about driving to work every day in traffic. Or those around me driving to work. You never know when it will happen and who will be taken from us next. I know that there will be more around me. We don't live forever and I've come to face what I fear the most. I want to spend time with those around me more and more. I want to cherish every living moment I have.
And yet...I'm still so scared. I think we all are.
Or most of us. I went back and researched the death of a high school friend who died of bone cancer. They had a quote in the paper about one of the final things that she said. She talked about how she was ready to go. She felt like she had led a good life and she was ready. How brave! I wish I could be half as brave as she was at the age of 20.
I am writing so that maybe I can put these fears aside and live the life I have. Cherish the moments you have. Love life as it is lived.
I used to tell my friends not to talk about death around me. I wouldn't even say the word. I disguised the word by calling it "The 'D' Word". Many of my relatives have passed on throughout my lifetime but none of it seemed to really sink in until this past January.
On January 9th, I received a spine tingling voicemail on my phone from my boyfriend, Andy, about the death of his brother. Never has it hit so hard as it did then. I had met Matt on multiple occasions before. We helped Andy roof his house that past summer. We had seen him just weeks earlier at Christmas dinner. He had been wrestling on the floor with Andy. And then the night before, he had called Andy to borrow his snowmobile helmet. I had heard his voice on the phone right next to me.
I've been trying hard to be the support that Andy needs. I was there at his side for all of the preparations and the funeral. It is hard to see someone that you love so much going through so much pain. Sometimes I wish I could rewind time. I wish I could do the impossible and bring Matt back to his brother and family. I wish I could have gotten to know him more.
My mind starts to wonder more lately. I've started to think hard about life. I believe in God and know that Matt is with him in heaven right now. Sometimes I just wish I could give Andy some sort of assurance that Matt is up there looking down right now. I want him to have one last conversation with his brother. I wish we could write letters to Matt and he could send them down to us from heaven. I feel like such a child for saying such strange things.
What will it be like up there for the rest of us? I start to become worried about everything. I worry about driving to work every day in traffic. Or those around me driving to work. You never know when it will happen and who will be taken from us next. I know that there will be more around me. We don't live forever and I've come to face what I fear the most. I want to spend time with those around me more and more. I want to cherish every living moment I have.
And yet...I'm still so scared. I think we all are.
Or most of us. I went back and researched the death of a high school friend who died of bone cancer. They had a quote in the paper about one of the final things that she said. She talked about how she was ready to go. She felt like she had led a good life and she was ready. How brave! I wish I could be half as brave as she was at the age of 20.
I am writing so that maybe I can put these fears aside and live the life I have. Cherish the moments you have. Love life as it is lived.
Friday, January 16, 2009
In Memory
It happened so quick
but the days in which we miss you
seem to be forevor long.
Imagining your smile,
they all line up to see you
one last time.
But your smile will always be
in our hearts and minds.
Your love for others
always there to shine.
The stories of dog sitting, roofing, plowing,
and other good times.
Always lending a helping hand,
your smile continues to shine.
On the rooftops, among the fences and fields
your love is sprinkled.
Sitting in the stands at the races,
getting dirty underneath the 84,
or driving behind a John Deere tractor
your memories will remain.
In Memory of Matthew C. Chrest
but the days in which we miss you
seem to be forevor long.
Imagining your smile,
they all line up to see you
one last time.
But your smile will always be
in our hearts and minds.
Your love for others
always there to shine.
The stories of dog sitting, roofing, plowing,
and other good times.
Always lending a helping hand,
your smile continues to shine.
On the rooftops, among the fences and fields
your love is sprinkled.
Sitting in the stands at the races,
getting dirty underneath the 84,
or driving behind a John Deere tractor
your memories will remain.
In Memory of Matthew C. Chrest
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