live your life: Livin' la vida loca!

This is kind of a long post, so I apologize in advance, and if you read it all, thanks :)

This past week/weekend was so bad. There were some good parts, but overall, this was a terrible week. First, there was drama with me and Vince, but we fixed it. The weather has been cray cray, school is overloading, and sorority drama was reaching a boiling point. Luckily, I had a mini break with a WONDERFUL double date with Vince, AJ and Megan. We watched Hunger Games and ate at Ruby Tuesdays. Saturday night was ADX's spring formal. It was supposed to be a good ending to a bad week. But, the worst thing possible happened Saturday. To Daddy.

Daddy's medical history isn't exactly the best. He has such a weak immune system. So, I got a text Saturday around noon from Madison (my real sister) that just said "Called 911. Dad having chest pains". I didn't think much of it at first, since hospital visits are a frequent thing for him. So, I called Mama cause usually 911 isn't involved. She sounded calm, but just said Daddy was weed eating and came inside and fell to the floor with chest pains. Everyone was asleep, except Sawyer. Thankfully, Sawyer woke mama up, because apparently it was bad. So, anyways, Mama cut me off short cause the ambulance got there, but she told me it was probably a heart attack, and she'd call me later. I hung up with her.

A heart attack? That was not expected. I immediately burst into tears. I had sent Vince a text that said what happened, so he came over to console me. I was hysterical. (Props to my awesome roomie, Julia, for the spontaneous hug and making me laugh when it happened) Vince finally calmed me down, and I continued to text Madison about updates. She sent me a few pictures of Daddy on a stretcher, which is so typical of her. So, to get my mind off of things, bless his heart, Vince took me to eat Chinese and get some sweets. We got Chinese to go and ate at his house, and then Madi called me. She said it was a heart attack and it was bad. I started crying again. Vince hugged me til I stopped and kept reminding me people have heart attacks all the time, and he'd be ok.

Since formal was that night, I figured I was probably gonna miss it and be at the hospital. Mom texted me around 2, and said "don't miss formal...have fun. Dad will be ok." If anyone knows my mom, you can't really argue with her. I then sent an email to my ADX sisters telling them what happened and not to bring it up at formal. I didn't want people to worry about how I was and not have fun. So, with the help of Julia, I fixed my hair and makeup and all the formal stuff. I couldn't help but worry about what was happening to Daddy. I was obsessively checking Mama's facebook to see if there were any updates about what was going on, but there wasn't really anything. So, we went to formal. I had a blast. Of course, I couldn't help but check my phone, but nothing new, so I kept dancing and stuff.

On the way home, I checked facebook and there was a status from mama posted about 5 minutes before I got on. It said Daddy had coded in the ICU. For you non-medical speaking people, like me who had to google it, it means his heart completely stopped. Scary stuff. Naturally, started crying again. Vince was driving from Birmingham, so he just held my hand the whole way home and kept reassuring me it'd be ok. I texted mom and she said he was ok, but scared the nurses. It was so hard to sleep that night. I went to bed around 3 am, but kept waking up every hour or so, and would check my text messages and facebook, just to make sure nothing bad had happened. I was exhausted when I woke up.

So, on Sunday around 10 am, me and Vince headed back to Chilton County to visit his family and make a hospital visit. Since visiting hours weren't open yet, we went to eat lunch with his family at Golden Corral, then went by the hospital to see Daddy. When we got there, he was laid down in his bed with tons of packets of crackers. He perked up when he saw us, and lifted his bed up to talk to us. (almost cried again when I saw him perk up). He was definitely back to himself, minus the numerous bruises and wires attached to him. My aunt, uncle and cousin came while we were there, so we talked to them for awhile. And daddy says the funniest things. He informed me the only reason we got 3rd place in ADX parents weekend was because he was about to have a heart attack. (smh) So, we stayed awhile, then headed to Vince's house to update them on his condition.

Today, he was released from ICU, got a normal room, and hopefully gets to come home tomorrow. I am overwhelmed with the amount of texts, facebook posts, and love and prayers we've received through this. Heart attacks are no joke. I was terrified. It definitely made me appreciate what I have and how easily it could be taken away. I'm so thankful Daddy is alive and doing better.

I also realized how blessed I am to have people that care so much about me. Vince, Julia, Kelsey, Megan, Morgan, Skyler, ect. My list could go on and on. But, I've never felt so much love and prayers. Whether it be taking me to lunch, or just a text saying "I'm praying for you". I am truly grateful for amazing people, and this just continues to prove my friends are the BEST in the world, and can't be replaced.

I'll end on a happy note. So, here's some pictures from formal... :)