My Grandma Border was the first person to grab me and that’s when reality set in. I knew that as soon as I stepped through that door, my life was going to be different. It wasn’t until we pulled up in front of my house, which I had just seen my dad in the Thursday before, that I realized what was about to happen. Linda drove my car halfway home and Chris took over for the last leg of the trip. This was later resolved by wearing a pair of my Mom’s shoes and stuffing socks into the toes.Ĭhris, Linda, Michael and Brandon (my family from Columbus) soon arrived to haul me, the pups and my clothes to Wellston. Note: I did make one critical error: I only packed one black pump. If you know me well, you know my clothes aren’t normally in the neatest state. I don’t know how I managed to put together several complete outfits:ġ. The last pic I had of him.8 days before he passed Mandi was definitely still gone, and I had to go pack for a funeral. They weren’t…my Dad was fine and was going to live until he was 1000 years old, because he was my Dad and that’s the way it was supposed to be. They headed back to work, and I went to email DSW to tell them that I couldn’t make the call because my Dad had suddenly passed away.Īs I typed those words, I knew they weren’t true. Being alone would have been horrible, and I couldn't have asked for 3 more supportive people to be surrounding me. My dog Cooper never left my lap (it’s so crazy how dogs just know when there is something wrong.) After a few minutes, I composed myself and thanked them for being with me when I got the news. They let me talk to them and spew out whatever nonsense I was saying. I remember my Mom saying my Aunt and Uncle were going to pick me up, and I just kept saying “I’m so sorry.” I don’t know who or what took over my body, but I was definitely no longer present. “What happened? He’s gonna be ok, right?”Īfter I heard those words, Mandi was gone. I bet he fell and hurt his leg or something. Whatever had happened, I was sure he’d been through worse and was going to be ok. Wait, did she say it was my Dad? I had just seen him 4 days earlier and he was perfectly fine. We were a 3 and a half hour car ride away from each other, and I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach before she even got a word out. Whatever had happened was so bad that I could actually feel her sadness through the phone. I’d seen her cry before, but this was much different. When she answered, I immediately knew something was terribly wrong. I called my Mom, while my friends waited in the hall outside my bedroom. We'd been at a hospital in Columbus a few weeks prior because he'd had a heart attack scare. My thoughts immediately went to my Grandpa Derrow. I ran back up to my room and grabbed my phone. I opened the door to find my good friends Chris, Stephanie, and Corey at the door. My first thought was that I had missed my call (it didn’t cross my mind how strange it was that anyone would know this information, much less be beating down my door about it.) I decided it was probably a good idea to head downstairs to see what the fuss was about. This time the shouting was louder, and I could hear the distinct sound of fists beating on my door. I had learned only two days earlier that I got the job, and my parents were ecstatic that I was going to be closer to home. Yep, I was dreaming. I was set to formally accept my new position at DSWīy phone that morning. I was obviously delirious from excitement. It was impossible that someone was really outside my house yelling my name…Cooper and Charlie would have been barking their little heads off by now. “MANDI!!!” *thump thump thump* “MANDI!!!” Feel free to stop reading at any point, this is free therapy for me. Note: I've always loved to write, but I can assure you that the below isn't gramatically correct or error-free. I'm not sure I would have been as strong as them. The rest of my family had to witness this first hand. I'm not sure if anyone will read this, but I needed to get the occurrences of that day out of my head and onto paper computer screen.
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