Kellisa and the Rock Wall

Abilities Expo

Atlanta, GA

February 9, 2013

I'm tempted to let the pictures below do all the talking:

Kellisa loved every second of her rock wall experience

Kellisa saw the rock wall from a distance and started saying, "me, me, me". Hard to believe, but this was a first for Kellisa and I have to admit that having her climb a rock wall wasn't even on my radar. Now that I know climbing can be adapted and seeing how much Kellisa enjoyed the adventure, my mind is racing with all the new possibilities.

 

I couldn't have been more proud of Kellisa. 

 

I apologize for the poor camera phone quality pictures. Lesson learned- you never know when an adventure will present itself!

 

A huge thanks to Catalyst Sports and the Abilities Expo- Atlanta for making this possible.

A Warrior

We are often asked about Kellisa's name, so I thought I'd share the background. We only had one boy name and one girl name picked when we found out Lisa was pregnant with twins. We really liked Kelly for a second girl name and thought it went well with Kirsten. Lisa had a concern that Kelly wasn't a formal name that could be shortened. 

I don't remember where or when we purchased the following book:

Taking Lisa's concerns seriously and thinking our daughter might be president someday, I opened the book to see if there were any long forms of Kelly. As soon as I saw Kellisa, I knew it was the name. The perfect combination of Kelly and Lisa. At the time, we never intended to call Kelly Kellisa. 

"A Warrior".

Is there a more fitting meaning of a name that could have been given to Kellisa? 

Most people when they see the name written combine Kel and Lisa as they pronounce the name. That may be the proper way to say the name, but when Lisa and I both saw the name, we thought it was pronounced like Melissa, but with a K. 

We named the girls in the womb. Kirsten was the normal, healthy developing baby and Kellisa was the baby without a chance to be born alive. How could we tell them apart? Kellisa was the baby with a large void in the ultrasound (another blog entry for another time). 

Kellisa was born first, just a minute before Kirsten. It's hard to say born, because they were literally ripped out of Lisa's stomach. The anesthesia started only a few seconds before the knife started cutting Lisa. I will always hear the doctor saying, "we don't have time for anesthesia" as he was starting the c-section. Lisa was pleading, "we have time", as I was rushed out of the operating room amid organized chaos. 

I sometimes think about what would have happened if we named the first girl born Kirsten because that was the name we had first. The girls would have had each others names. Would anything be different? Kirsten isn't as unique a name as Kellisa. We wouldn't have to constantly correct people on the spelling and pronunciation. My biggest pondering is- would the personality be the same?

In 1999, Calista Flockhart was on top of the world as the star of Ally McBeal. However, at the time (and even to this date), Lisa and I had never watched the show or really even knew that Calista Flockhart existed. The rest of the world knew and everyone thought we named our daughter Calista. Not to be mean, but no one was happier than us when Ally McBeal ended in 2002 and Calista faded from popular culture.

Kellisa has never been called "Kelly". 

Big Bend Ultra 25K

Big Bend Ultra 25

Big Bend National Park, TX

January 20, 2013

The standard picture as we enter a National Park:

Flashback: Kellisa first visited Big Bend National Park in April 2009:

We enjoyed a little sight seeing when we first arrived in the park:

We had to pick up our race packets the night before, so we decided to camp:

We arrived at our site late and it was cold, so we just slept in the back of the giant SUV:

We were visiting Big Bend National Park because we were entered in the Big Bend Ultra 25K. For those that don't know, 25K equals 15.5343 miles. However, this trail was just a little longer and came in at 15.8 miles. It may not sound like a big deal, but I want credit for every step I pushed Kellisa over the rough terrain. Below is a map of the course which followed 4X4 trails in the backcountry:

354 feet of elevation gain isn't mountain climbing, but imagine pushing 100+ pounds up a rocky trail the height of a 35 story building:

Kellisa enjoying the shuttle to the starting line:

Starting line (34F):

I decided to view the 25K as a journey and not a race. I knew we'd make the course cut-off time, so I decided to take our time enjoying the magnificent scenery and to capture as many pictures as possible to remember our amazing trip. 

Kellisa had a seizure in the first 15 minutes of the race, just after my first picture on the course. I asked Kellisa if she was OK to continue and she signed "YES". Always the trooper! I tend to trust Kellisa in these matters and she would save her next seizure until we completed the course.

The finish line (it was now 76F) is the little white spot just to the left of the top of the road. Even though it looks like we were close, it was still almost 2 agonizing miles away. I did not take finish line pictures because there was a course photographer. I will add those pictures as soon as I receive them.

Results:

 106  269          Kain Kellisa   F       Open   05:30:43

107 268  Kain Christopher M   Masters  05:30:43

** we did not finish last **

After the finish line, in the shade of a tent, Kellisa is receiving fluids like everyone else:

Kellisa enjoying the long 4X4 road back to where we had the SUV parked. Right after this picture, Kellisa had her second seizure of the day:

This is what we looked like at the airport for a very short weekend trip:

I would like to thank Lisa for supporting this trip as only a great mother and wife could. Egypt, for understanding as she stayed home this time. A promise to take Egypt to someplace with snow made it a little easier for her. I'd also like to thank Courtney and everyone at Friends of Big Bend National Park for going out of their way to accommodate our trip. Arlene for changing our registration at the last minute. Paul Baltutis (Race Director) for a flawless event and allowing us to complete the race in a way that only we can. We really appreciate the chance! Everyone at Big Bend National Park. A special thank you to Whole Earth Provision Co. for sponsoring our entry. 

Trip stats:

Miles driven: 547 (doesn't count the van shuttles)

Mikes hiked: 15.8

Flights: 5 (Jax-Houston-Midland/ Midland-Dallas-Birmingham-Jax)
Air miles flown: 2,522

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

December 2012

The Research Reserve's 73,000+ acres are within a half hour of our house. We visit the preserve at least once a year as part of the park borders the Atlantic Ocean and is the sight of our yearly Christmas pictures. The upland portion of the park contains many miles of trails. On this beautiful December afternoon (59F and mostly sunny), we would pushike approximately 6.5 miles.

We were pushiking a long loop trail and shortly after the picture below, we passed two men on the trail coming from the other direction. They stopped to warn us that the trail in front of us was impassable and they strongly recommended we turn around. They explained that the trail was flooded and that they had to detour through dense forest to get past the wet areas. I thanked them for the information and we all went on our way. 

I never thought about turning around. Not because we were already 5 miles into our loop hike or the possibility that the men were trying to lure us deeper into the forest for unknown reasons. I pushed ahead because I was hoping to cap the hike off with a little sludge. I was just hoping I would be able to push Kellisa through while keeping her dry and not dropping the camera or Ipod in the water.

The men were correct, the trail was flooded:

The dense foliage would make pushing Kellisa around the obstacle impossible:

Kellisa was giggling the entire way:

The Freedom Push Chair handled the challenge and we didn't even have our "off-road" modified tires:

One pair of boots stayed dry: