I've told this story so many times but this weekend Trevor and I told it together, well at least the parts that overlapped. I've never heard his version of our story but I've told him that Dermot Mulroney will play him in our movie and initially I thought Vanessa Marcil would play me. I would even get a tramp stamp so that we it be more believable but the last thing I saw her in, she had had some botox or something done and I didn't like the looks of the outcome. So I think I'm going to opt for Emma Stone to play me. LOTS of you have heard this so skip ahead to the important bold stuff at the bottom. I just needed to replay the past for you so I can appreciate where my husband is and how much he truly loves me and has always cared for me.
Okay, picture it UTM, fall of 1991...my room mate and I were chit-chatting it up one night in our bunk beds. Low and behold there was a surprise room check! I was sitting on my top bunk in a floral night gown, there was a knock on the door and the door knob jangled and then the door opened-we hadn't locked our door. Dorm orientation 101, always lock your door especially at night. This tall, dark haired, blue eyed guy comes in, he is wearing red mesh basketball shorts and a with t-shirt with Red Devil basketball on the front. He introduces himself as an RA and encourages us to follow dorm policies. When he walks out I'm sure I made some smart-alleck comment about "he's a stud-muffin" or something in the like!
Anyway, I had started hanging out with this freshman guy, Chad and we had planned on doing something, I now have know idea what it was but before we were going to do it, he had to go to his floor meeting. Lo and behold, who is the RA on THAT floor doing the introductions, policies and procedures, you got it the same RA and this time I remembered his name...Trevor! That night I also met 3 other guys, Chris, Nathan and Ed who even now are the dearest of friends. Even with on-again-off-again with Chad, those guys remained my friends too. The thing with having guy friends is even when a relationship with one of their good friends doesn't work out, they don't severe all ties with the other party (me), women could learn from this...
Fast Forward to September 27, 1995....I've graduated college, Chad will graduate in the following spring but we were no longer dating but still talking. Ed and Chris had graduated. Nathan was in Nurse Practitioner school at Vanderbilt and Trevor was in PT school at UT Memphis. I started a job at the Jackson Family YMCA August 30. I had been driving to Jackson from Millington daily until I got an apartment in Jackson.
It was a Thursday night and I had just gotten off the exit to go to my parents house...
My mom had called the sheriff in Fayette County, because she knew him and he knew our family, because she just had a "feeling something had happened to me" after the her phone rang and no one was there. If you are a mom, you may have had that kind of feeling before. He said something to the effect of "now Carmen..." with a humoring attitude. Mom began to pray for my safety. No sooner had she hung up, she said the phone rang again and it was the sheriff. He began with, "Carmen, I don't know how you knew, but an off duty state trooper just saw an accident and ran the plates. It turns out it is Angi's car. She is responsive and seems to be okay, scrapes, cuts and a broken leg. He called for LifeFlight because he assumed it was more serious than what it was. By the time you get to the MED, she'll be there and you can probably take her home tonight."
At the time, my sister did peritoneal dialysis at home so my dad had to stay home with her. My brother had just come home from work at Charm's Candy Factory so he drove my mom to the MED. When they got to the MED, emergency personnel was just bringing me down from the helicopter pad. My mom said that I was unrecognizable. She said that my left eyelid was ripped nearly off and was hanging to the side of my eye. I had blood all over me. She kept telling nurses to explain to me what they were doing and what to expect and I would cooperate but I didn't cooperate blindly. My brother was shell-shocked at my appearance. As they began examining me, I didn't sustain a broken back, but had shattered L4 in my back. I had a lacerated liver, punctured lung, mashed intestines and lots of cuts.
The EMT's on the scene had been friends of mine and my brother's. They kept telling me to lie still, keep calm they would do their job. From what has been told to me, I was super excited to see somebody I knew. When the trooper got to me, my car was upside down, a barbed wire fence post had gone through the windshield of my car and another had come through the back glass and I was hanging over the fence upside down halfway in my car. I've tried to picture this and I think only a contortionist could pull this stunt off. The trooper said that it was me, a herd of cows and a cattle chute and me saying, "um 'scuse em, could somebody help me?..." and cows mooing back in response. Randomness follows me in all shapes, sizes and animals...
I'll follow up with the next installment sometime later over spring break this week...
More importantly than a story that began over 20 years ago...Trevor had his follow up appointment with the Radiology Oncologist on Friday and news is GREAT! From physical examinations, blood work and results of his PET scan, he has no cancer in his body!!!! We will have one more visit in June and they should tie up any loose ends he may have. Trevor still has the feeding tube and had planned on seeing his GI doctor about his throat issues and the possibility of having to have his throat dilated so that he can start swallowing better. The doctor said that he recommends him to let his throat continue to heal on it's own for at least 2 months. He didn't want Trevor to risk having a procedure that may be unwarranted just because Trevor is anxious to get something done. He said his throat is still healing from radiation as well as massive amounts of chemo that caused violent vomiting. He reassured us that this is just a process in healing properly. If something needs to be done about his throat at least give it time to heal from one traumatic event before undergoing another.
So in the scheme of healing and this week of Spring Break and Easter, Trevor has plans of fishing, putting out his turkey blind, sighting in his and Eli's guns to hunt and hopefully some of the stuff on the Spring Cleaning list.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
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