I don’t know where to start. \u00a0This may be the most important blog that I have ever written. \u00a0I need to write this for myself and others. \u00a0And I am not trying to one-up anybody else’s shitty 2020. \u00a0But the punches just keep coming. \u00a0But, as long as we can keep walking away and towards a better year, I guess it will be okay.<\/p>\n
Here we go again\u2026\u2026different story, new emotions.<\/p>\n
This afternoon, I left Shattuck Automotive Supply and headed west. \u00a0I had to meet a lady so that she could get her package of tamales. \u00a0I made it 1 block west of main street Shattuck. \u00a0As I went through the intersection by the tag agency, I saw a blur. \u00a0Coming at me, on the driver’s side. \u00a0I could tell it was a 3 wheeler and there was blonde hair. \u00a0There was an impact.<\/p>\n
Oh shit!!! WTH? \u00a0The ag pickup came to a stop. \u00a0I jumped out and went around to see the 3 wheeler lodged under the bumper and\u2026…<\/p>\n
MY GOD!!! \u00a0There are two bodies lying in the street. \u00a0I know them both. \u00a0I have both of them in class. \u00a0They are both breathing! \u00a0 YES!!!! \u00a0 THANK GOD!!!!<\/p>\n
It is amazing how hard it is to dial 911, especially when you know the injured. \u00a0And as 911 answered, the pickup bluetooth took over my phone, so I reached in and shut the pickup off. \u00a0I walked back to the kids, then walked to where I could read the street signs to give directions. \u00a0THEN I got cut-off from 911. \u00a0F%#K!!! \u00a0 \u00a0So, I called a local EMT. \u00a0He answered and said that the ambulance was in route. \u00a0That’s all I needed to know.<\/p>\n
A witnessing neighbor helped me hold both boys still. \u00a0Then other people showed up. \u00a0Some helped. \u00a0Some were telling me that they witnessed everything. \u00a0“Ma’am, I don’t care that I didn’t do anything wrong. \u00a0Tell it to the cops. \u00a0I just want the boys taken care of. \u00a0Please step away.”<\/p>\n
I called the school counselor to contact family members. \u00a0My school co-workers, the cops, the EMTs, the neighbors, everybody did their parts. \u00a0Impressive!<\/p>\n
One boy was knocked out. \u00a0As I got off the phone, he came to and rolled over. \u00a0And that’s when I saw the 10 or 12″ inch long gash on his calf. \u00a03″ wide and all parts visible. \u00a0The bone was not broken. \u00a0We could see it. \u00a0I called his name and he responded. \u00a0I said his name again and asked if he could hear me. \u00a0He replied, “Yes sir.” \u00a0I told him to lay still and let people help him. \u00a0He again replied, “Yes sir.”<\/p>\n
During 3rd hour today, this freshman boy had made a 90 on his cutting torch assignment. \u00a0On Monday, he was scared to light the torch for his first time. \u00a0Today, he was making an A. \u00a0Good kid.<\/p>\n
The other boy was moving a lot and starting to get a bit hysterical. \u00a0The county boys showed up. \u00a0STUDS! \u00a0Pud, Shaddon and Pittman bailed out and went to helping. \u00a0I held this boys shoulders and told him to be calm. \u00a0I called him by name and he responded. \u00a0Lot of blood and scrapes but no visible major wounds. \u00a0But he was getting amped and scared. \u00a0We held him still until the ambulance got there. \u00a0The EMTs went to work on the boy with the bad cut. \u00a0They wanted us to put a neck brace on the other boy. \u00a0We had to cut his hoodie off. \u00a0He was growing more hysterical. \u00a0He would calm down when I called him by name. \u00a0But he was wound up. \u00a0I held his head as we rolled him onto the medical board.<\/p>\n
As we got him on the board, he got quiet, then went limp and then\u2026\u2026..quit\u2026\u2026.breathing. \u00a0 I held on and watched him. Is he calming down? \u00a0Is he breathing? \u00a0Is this normal? \u00a0 Pud was right there with me, helping, watching. \u00a0Pud then yelled out, “This one is not breathing!”<\/p>\n
And then, a massive inhale and he was moving again. \u00a0I do not know if my heart or lungs worked during those forever-long seconds. \u00a0At this point, I don’t care. \u00a0Looking back, I think that he hyper-ventilated for a bit. \u00a0He did it again as he was loaded him into the ambulance. \u00a0Good kid.<\/p>\n
Today, during 1st hour, this boy and the other 8th grade boys planted a test plot of wheat, rye and triticale. \u00a0This boy’s family is in the custom cutting business. \u00a0He really likes the agronomy stuff as he knows more than most kids about these crops. \u00a0Did I mention that he is a good kid?<\/p>\n
I was going west at 20-25 mph. \u00a0I wasn’t on the phone. \u00a0I was just cruising 3 blocks so I could get a lady her tamales. \u00a0One of the boys had gotten this 3 wheeler the night before. \u00a0They were hauling ass going north, and the brakes didn’t work on the 3 wheeler. \u00a0They ran the stop sign and smacked the ag pickup in the driver’s side corner of the front bumper. \u00a0If they had hit the side of the pickup, we would not have a happy ending. \u00a0Tammy and I went to the Emergency Room with their families. \u00a0Both boys were stabilized and were being medi-flighted to OKC for precautionary measures. \u00a0The driver did not have any broken bones just a horrible bad cut on his leg to deal with. \u00a0The rider had a swollen knee and hopefully nothing else. \u00a0The boys got to see each other before they flew them out on separate helicopters. \u00a0Prayers for both families. \u00a0So far, all indications look positive.<\/p>\n
And since, I was in a school vehicle, insurance required me to take a piss test. \u00a0The insurance. \u00a0Not the sheriff department or the highway patrol\u2026but the insurance company. \u00a0OK, fine. \u00a0Give me the jug.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t matter who was at fault. \u00a0It doesn’t matter that they were on a 3 wheeler. \u00a0I was just a driver minding my own business and they were kids just being kids. \u00a0No one… can ever\u2026. prepare you… for how fast that “in a blink of an eye” actually is. \u00a0 No one can prepare you for the actuality of how hard it is to dial 911, especially when you know the injured. \u00a0One can never realize how good an ambulance siren sounds, until you are waiting on one.<\/p>\n
I write this with great pride as I got to witness our first responders and EMTs in action. \u00a0They are wicked good! \u00a0Some of them I grew up with, some I have known most of my life and some might have been former students. \u00a0No matter, they are good and I am proud to call them my friends. \u00a0One of them is actually a licensed veterinarian. \u00a0 People, I felt good when he showed up on the scene. \u00a0If he can take care of animals\u2026\u2026..well, we like to take care of animals. \u00a0And nobody turned smart-ass until we had good word on the boys.<\/p>\n
This all sounds hard to hear and it is harder to write; \u00a0I guess that 2020 is getting better?!?!? \u00a0WTF? \u00a0Early on, I had to attend a couple of funerals. \u00a0Now, I don’t know what to say. \u00a0It isn’t easy for any of the parents involved. \u00a0But, when a husband\/wife came to check on us\u2026\u2026..and we buried their son back in May\u2026DAMN!!! \u00a0This is better? \u00a0Yes, it just shows you how strong people are.<\/p>\n
You can gladly take the year 2020, your over-inflated athletes\/celebrities, your shitty politicians, bass-ackward media, this racist crap, effing riots and shove it all right up \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m going to be positive.<\/p>\n
And here is the rest of the story. \u00a0When I was helping Duke out of his crash, I looked down and saw a penny with his blood on it. HEADS UP! \u00a0I picked it up and put it in my pocket. \u00a0And I did what I do every time I touch a penny.<\/p>\n
Later, after I cleaned his pickup out, dodged all of the fishing lures\/hooks and the piles of spare change scattered at the wreck scene, that was the only penny that I found with his blood on it. \u00a0I gave it to Duke and said, “Keep it.”<\/p>\n
Tonight, when that 8th grade boy was on that medical board and quit breathing\u2026..and then started again, I noticed a penny, heads up, lying under his left shoulder. \u00a0I picked it up and put it in my pocket. \u00a0And I did what I do every time I touch a penny.<\/p>\n
I prayed. \u00a0And I prayed.<\/p>\n
I’ve done that for decades. \u00a0Somewhere, sometime, back about the time Kela was born, circa 1990, I started praying anytime I touched a penny. \u00a0It doesn’t have to be heads up. \u00a0Just a penny. \u00a0I had read an article about how worthless pennies were and somebody had replied (I roughly quote) “as long as a penny had the words “In GOD we trust”, a penny is priceless.” \u00a0I agreed. \u00a0Still do. \u00a0It isn’t the penny. It’s the words, the thoughts, the prayer. \u00a0The actually taking time to acknowledge GOD and the thought of prayer that matters. \u00a0It is that simple.<\/p>\n
And that ties right back to my true religion. \u00a0In GOD we trust. \u00a0Say it again\u2026.In GOD we trust.<\/p>\n
Now, I can’t wait to give him that penny. \u00a0It’s just one cent but\u2026..I’m taking a deep breath, wiping a tear and realizing that some things\u2026well, some things<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As parents, as teachers, as agriculturists, there is no other way. \u00a0In GOD we trust. \u00a0This is the way.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Although, I absolutely love getting texts\/messages\/ calls regarding these blogs, I don’t need help. \u00a0I’m good. \u00a0Just say a prayer for you and yours. \u00a0We are fine. \u00a0But, we won’t turn down any prayers sent our way.<\/p>\n
I loved it when I was sent the emojiis of “Horseshoes & Shamrocks”. \u00a0 I don’t even know how to send the middle finger emoji and yet some can get creative enough to send horseshoes & shamrocks. \u00a0Bad ass! \u00a0I am constantly reminded that I am the weakest link of this crap of which I write. \u00a0Here’s to wishing nothing but horseshoes and shamrocks to all of you. \u00a0A not-so-good day today and yet a better day tomorrow. \u00a0GOD speed! \u00a0And please, for the love of GOD, remember those damn pennies! \u00a0A prayer is a prayer is prayer and it’s all good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don’t know where to start. \u00a0This may be the most important blog that I have ever written. \u00a0I need to write this for myself and others. \u00a0And I am not trying to one-up anybody else’s shitty 2020. \u00a0But the punches just keep coming. \u00a0But, as long as we can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3845"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3851,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions\/3851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}