Later in
the day, we went to Blue Springs State Park about an hour from our home. We saw
a sign that swimming was allowed in the spring, but there was also a warning
about the possibility of alligators in the water. Florida was still very new to
us and the idea of taking a plunge on New Year's Day into 72-degree water was
appealing to me.
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The one
normal thing we did was order a large wooden stork to be placed on our front
lawn for Kellisa’s arrival. It was huge with a large red heart painted with
Kellisa’s name and date of birth. When we arrived home, we took celebratory
pictures of Kellisa with the stork in front of our house. After the pictures,
Lisa carried Kellisa through our front door for the first time. Kellisa was
home.
My dad
wasn’t known for sharing his feelings. He kept them inside due to a rough
childhood without a father. His father showed up unexpected to say “Goodbye” as
my dad left for a tour in Vietnam, just in case my dad didn’t make it home
alive. This was the last time my dad would see his father and I would never
know my paternal grandfather.
My dad
learned early and often how to keep his feelings from others. I can only
remember him telling me that he loved me once and that was while he was hugging
me right after Everett passed away. He whispered those three words into my ear.
This would be the first of only three times I ever saw my dad cry. The second
would be when my mom joined Everett 8 years later. The third was earlier in the
day when he realized we lost Kirsten.
After
many years of countless negative results, I failed to get excited while Lisa
went through the process of completing the test. To our shock and excitement,
the test came back positive. It was after 10pm on New Year’s Eve, but we wanted
to be 100% sure before we got too excited. Lisa found a clinic open and we
raced to have another test completed.
