Valentine

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and let me say, WHAT A WEEK for Valentine's Day to fall upon. This picture is a literal representation of walking into the future, time isn't stopping, the days still turn into weeks into months into years. We have phases, seasons.

If you read last week's post, you'll realize real quick it wasn't normal; in fact, it was pretty dark. If you read last week's post, you probably wondered what in the world was going on, what could possibly inspire such a vague, somewhat depressing quip. Well, here's the story:

Last Sunday night, the 3rd of February, there was a bunch of peeps hangin' at my house. At about 10:45 pm, I wanted to show Ms. Morgan McGannon a video as well as our new "chill zone," the garage. We just recently put a few couches, tables, etc. to make the garage a SWEET spot to relax, study, play music, anything and everything you can think of. Now, our lawn has not been maintained so our grass is very overgrown. In fact, here's a picture of it:

Now, Ms. Morgan McGannon was not wearing shoes and did not want to walk through the treacherous grass to the garage. Carry her? Why not. I pick her up, take a step into the abyss of the jungle grass, step into a hole/unevenground/SOMETHING that throws me off balance, I stumble, with Morgan in my arms, and we go down. Morgan's head comes in direct contact with the ground, we both stand up, seemingly alright. She mentions her head hurt, which is normal for someone who is dropped on their head. And then she needs to sit down, and then she is immense pain, and then she can't move her neck at all. WOAH. After some initial tests, she is able to move all of her appendages, which was great, but her neck and head were basically immobile... and in a lot of pain. NOT GOOD. AT ALL. I have been around a surprising amount of neck injuries and if there's one thing to learn, it's that neck injuries are extremely serious and can occur even in the simplest situations, such as being dropped onto grass. Neck injuries need to be treated as a worse-case-scenario because one wrong move and full body paralysis becomes an option. It's one thing to break an arm and assess the situation, it's another thing to mess with the neck. We stabilized her neck as best we could, talked to a number of reliable resources, and had to make a decision: 911.

The ambulance came, and we went. Surreal. X-ray. CAT scan. NEGATIVE. Good news. Strained muscles. Pulled muscles. Time will heal, throw some pain killers in the mix, a few days of intense soreness, and we should be good. However, what should have taken maybe an hour at the ER took 10. We spent all night in the ER, waiting, waiting, waiting. Listening to babies crying, listening to people coughing, waiting, waiting, waiting, listening to beeping, beeping, beeping. It was a LONG night. Mr. Karl Holmlund saved the day by coming to pick us up. Morgan was down for the count, and she would stay out for days.

I took it really hard. I dropped my girlfriend on her head. WHO DOES THAT. I hurt the girl I care for most. WHO DOES THAT. Yeah, it was an accident, I get it. I had little to no control of the situation. I get it. I still beat myself for days. And I'm talking BEAT. And you know who came through? Ms. Morgan McGannon did. She encouraged me so much even amidst her pain. The pain that I caused her. What an example of forgiveness, grace, and humility. Throughout this experience, I was continuously reminded of promises made by my Father in heaven. Even though I mess up, Jesus forgives and forgets, encouraging all the way through. SACRIFICIAL LOVE.

It's a been a week and a few days. Morgan is still in pain. Heatpads, icepacks, medicines, massages, resting. Some days are harder than others, some days hurt worse than others. We had some GNARLY conversations this week. I had some GNARLY conversations this week. I feel like I've matured 5 years, I feel grown up.

 

But you know what? I have learned SO MUCH. It's been a growing experience beyond belief. You could sit in school for years and never even touch on the things only experience and living through this has taught me. I am legitimately a better man because of the multiple complications that came up in the last week. I've heard them called GROWING PAINS.

Unreal.

#breathe

I have a few videos for you. They're rad.

First, enjoy beautiful music.

Second, Mr. Marc Wymore asked Mr. Isaac Svensson and I to document his miraculous kidney transplant. His sister, Corri, stepped up to the plate and donated one of her kidneys to Marc, a type 1 diabetic who had 10% kidney function left. This is his story.

Lastly, a FANTASTIC trailer. So inspired by this.

And, ladies and gentlemen, that is today's blog post. PHEW. So intense. I am so thankful for Ms. Morgan McGannon. So so so thankful.

Who are you thankful for?