My friend, Vicki, is witty, creative, smart and lives every inch of life. I wish I would have tried half the things she has tried in her life including learning to ride a motorcycle. Vicki is an excellent rider. Five years ago she was in a terrible accident. I received the call from her husband the day before my 50th birthday that she was in a hospital in Nashville with multiple injuries including a fractured pelvis. Vicki was in for a long recovery. It was extremely serious. I told both her husband and her son, that if anyone had the will and the drive to get through an extended recovery - it would be Vicki. She didn't let me down. When I went to visit her in Atlanta 3 months after the accident, she had graduated from a wheelchair to a walker. We went to the pool every day so she could get her swim therapy to help her shoulder injury. She confessed to me that she wasn't suppose to be going to the pool on her own but she had been for two weeks. She needed to get on with it.....start the recovery.....not wait around for someone to help her. (Sorry, Mike, hopefully she confessed this to you.) She continues to amaze me with how well she has recovered.The pieces and parts that still might give her pain or discomfort, she deals with and moves on! She stopped by my office the other day with an interesting article that she said reminded her of us. The article was on a new study on Post Traumatic Growth. The opposite of Post Traumatic Stress disorder. The article talks about those individuals who continue to grow and learn and produce after a traumatic event or events. Well, that certainly fits the bill with Vicki and my sister who both inspire me. But I wasn't sure about me. I was flattered she put me in the group. I certainly have endured heartache and grief in my life and I am still standing but alot of people manage through these circumstances. Maybe the cancer will add to my strength once I have made it through the recovery. I remember my cousin once told me that recovery is 10% of the statistics and medical treatments and 95% attitude. We have all read or heard stories about individuals who have endured more than their share and somehow, some way they rise above and come out stronger. I told my sister that one day after Jake is in total remission and living his incredible life, she will be a resource and inspiration to mothers who are in the position of having a newly diagnosed child with cancer. She has truly kept herself together for herself and her family through these past two years of all the surgeries, treatments and therapy with Jake. Amazing. And Vicki? She is back on her motorcycle with the wind blowing through her hair.....(figuratively that is as she wears a helmet.....)
So, in my last blog I reached out to all of you to send me your inspiration song titles......Aly sent me a list. Vicki dropped off a CD!!! They are the only two people I have heard from so....... my request comes again to send me your song titles or burn me a whole CD!
"Sometimes the only steps that matter are the ones you take yourself." (from one of Vicki's inspirational songs).
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