Vibrations

Today is finally seeming like a normal day. I think I felt the aftershocks from this weekend non-stop up until today. Life can change in blink of an eye, one phone call can ring in your heard for days. A drive may lead up to an irreversible change. Last Saturday I was sleeping very soundly. I heard Erik's phone ringing, I thought I was dreaming. Much to my chagrin I gathered my lazy bones up and found what was annoying my slumber. Saw my parents name on the caller ID and my stomach sank. It was quarter to 3 in the morning. Nothing good was coming out of this call.

It was my mother. Her voice was steady but directive,"Melissa, your dad is being life flighted to Grand Forks. There has been an accident." Pause. Breath. Okay. What do I do? "You need to get ready and go right away, I will meet you there but you can get there faster than me." My head is swimming. Who do I need to call? Is my dad going to be there when I get there? Should I bring a change of clothes? What was he doing?

I called my sister who is an RN at Sanford, luckily we were able to find out that he was stabilized before the took him but he had some head trauma. What does head trauma mean? Your head swims with images and suggestions of what it could be. It tricks you into decisions you might have to make. Are you strong enough to do this? Nope, I am not. I am on my knees sobbing begging for everything to be okay. I know I have to get it together before I leave but I need this minute, this minute right now to beg God to make this all be okay. My dad is not ready to go yet and I am not ready to be without him. Listen to me, I am serious, dear GOD, I AM SERIOUS!

Erik lets me have this moment. My Aunt Nancy happens to be in town at a hockey tournament, she lives in the same town as my parents, she is with them day in and day out. I pick her up and we drive. I cannot even tell you what we spoke about, I think mainly trying to put some of the pieces together of what happen and how we dared a cop to pull me over. I don't think I would have stopped, they would have followed me with their lights on all the way to the hospital.

We enter. Can you please tell me where my dad is? The fluorescent light seem so cold. We are taken to the family waiting room and told they are in the process of working on him. He is receiving a CT Scan as we speak. He is covered with cuts and abrasions but from what they can tell he is alert and reacting to them. They begin to ask me some family history questions and ask if I can check him in. Are you his next of kin here? Do you know when your mother will be arriving? Do you feel comfortable answering some questions? Not until I see him. I am just his daughter. His biggest fan. I put on my game face and follow through.

The doctor walks in and said,"Okay, he is stable. You can see him now." I take the last drink of my watered down retched coffee and grab Nancy's hand. We got this.

My dad is lying on a table. He is wearing a neck brace and has multiple IVs and monitors surrounding him. He looks at me and I can tell he's scared. Scared and grateful. Our roles have switched, it is now my turn to guide him and reassure him that we got this. No matter what, we got this. He explains to us the accident and what took place. He remembers waking up and he was hanging upside down suspended from the truck-hanging by his seat-belt. It was cold, lots of snow, ice, and glass. There was no sound and it was dark so he couldn't see anything or move. But he was alive. His next thought was but for how much longer? He knew he was hurt, he couldn't get out, and what if nobody found him? He is on a road outside of town, it is late, and not a lot of traffic.

But he was found. They cut him out of his truck. He was immediately air lifted out because Baudette does not have the means to give him a full CT scan to check for internal bleeding, broken bones, etc. His CT scan comes back clean. They can admit him for his pain but they can release him to my mom and other aunt to bring him home to his own bed. After all aren't we all more comfortable at home?

So just as quickly as we drove there we are returning home. Driving towards the sunrise and out of the darkness. We are all still shaking but so grateful because this day could have gone in so many different directions. When my mom arrived I marveled at her stoic strength but when I hugged her she shook uncontrollably. She shook like a woman whose whole life could have changed forever but she came prepared to take him home either way.

My dad has now skydived, capsized a boat, and rolled a truck. It is time for him to retire. My heart cannot take anymore of his antics. But the one thing I know for sure coming out of this is he is not done torturing us with his antics and for that I truly Thank God for. That moment that I begged for him is one that will not leave me anytime soon. I love you daddy, now please just relax.

Time to Sparkle!

Hi Ladies,

I hope this finds you doing well on a GORGEOUS Saturday morning! Vicky Westra has become a friend through the virtual world and is someone I hold dear to my heart. She is courageous, giving, and inspiring. I thought a fun way we could to give back to her and her family is through Stella & Dot. All proceeds from now until February 29^th through my website: http://www.stelladot.com/sites/MelissaTortorice will go to the Westra family. Not only do you get to shop for some fun pieces for yourself to add a little to sparkle to your life, but also support an amazing woman. If you want to contact me with your order I will also take the shipping costs off for you. You can expect to see your pieces within 2-3 business days.

Feel free to pass on this email to all of your girlfriends, friends, and family! I appreciate your help on this and wish you all a day full of “light”. To read more about Vicky and her journey you can go to her blog here. I will keep you all posted on the outcome. J

Melissa Tortorice

701.361.1759 P

Feel free to connect with me on Facebook as well! http://www.facebook.com/melissa.tortorice

Love is in the air, happy Friday!

Happy Friday! I do have 3 children but the oldest is not so good about letting me take pictures of him anymore or as of the last couple of weeks anyway. If you can't tell the middle one is obsessed with taking pictures of himself on my iPhone-constantly. Tonight we have a fun night planned with my parents swimming at a hotel and I am going to be on a mission to get as many pics of Anthony as I can. 

On Wed we had his meeting at our church to finalize the last stretch of First Communion planning. I met one of his classmate Ella's mom Shelby, Anthony and Ella have been in the same class since kindergarten. She told me on the way to church that night Ella said,"Mom, you know what? Anthony and Jocelyn are together! I am going to be in their wedding as a bridesmaid! Can you believe it?" Anthony mentioned to me that he had an admirer that he skated with at Skateland on Valentine's Day. "Mom, she like LOVES me. She grabbed my hand. But I don't LOVE her. Just like her." Second grade and this is already starting? C'mon! I told him that I am his only girlfriend and he responded,"I know because I LOVE you." Ahhhhh, love those moments.

John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt

You know the jingle right, "whenever we go out the people always shout there goes John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt!" We sang it all the way home tonight. Alex was singing his little heart out with Anthony and I. We were all giggling. But he finished his sentence off with John Jacob Jingle Heimer Sh&%! I then had him repeat the words to make sure I heard it right. Poor guy had no idea what he was saying. Anthony burst out laughing and so did Mom. Very, very hard but on the inside. In his defense it does sound similar.

Alex's Birthday

Big Al is 4!

Here he is with his birthday hat from school.

He is 39 inches tall-in the 25th percentile for height and weighs in at 40 solid lbs,

His favorite color is green and his favorite piece of clothing are "worker jeans". Have to be carpenter style.

We went bowling for his party. He loves to do any physical activity. Bowling, hockey, football, biking, you name it. If it involves an object and running he is sold.

Excuse the photo, his mama uses her phone. Alli made him a card, he ready it so nicely and looked right at her and said so very nicely,"Thank you!"

Alex is very kind, funny, and easy going. He does not require a lot to make him happy.  You can always count on him for a hug and good manners.

He does like to tell me once and awhile,"I don't love you Mom, just Dad. Anthony loves you." But I know better when he tells me later he "loves me to the moon". Because that is just how much I love him too.

He still loves Thomas and Play Dough, loves to write the letter A and M for "my name".

He treats his sister like a princess Tells her she is so pretty all the time.

Immediately after he blew out the candles he told Anthony to back off of "his cake"! Then he asked if he could have 2 pieces, with a PLEASE!

May all your wishes come true, that is all I ask for you. My baby is now a boy who I love so very much.

Tortorice's 2012

Erik and I decided this year we are going to commit to 2 trips. One dedicated to the kids and one dedicated to us. Since we never really every go anywhere or do anything besides a trip to Minneapolis here and there, we talk a lot about it but never actually do it. Not this year, we are committing. Something different for us, we normally do everything last minute spur of the moment. But the hard part is we cannot make a decision to save our lives AND when I google different places I have a hard time deciphering what is a good price and what isn't since we never do fly. I do for work but never make the arrangements so I am LOST. So please share where you have gone that you love, what is a good price, and any sites your recommend to check out. 

Happiness Project

Check out the new book I am reading called The Happiness Project. Leslie has been talking about this book for 6+ months so I thought I would take her advice and try it out. I am pretty excited, it looks very cool!