Breathe in!  Breathe out!  Just Breathe.

Those are the words from a friend of mine who happens to work in behavioral health as a counselor.  However, it's easier said than done these days.

Today, July 20th, 2020 marks exactly 5,229 days since I opened my eyes in the Emergency Department of Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  That day was a Thursday, March 23, 2006.

"You have NINE pulmonary emboli!  NINE!"  the nice little ER doc with the University of Oklahoma scrubs said out loud over my bed to me.  My first thought was oh he's from Oklahoma too.  It's hard to find an Okie out here in Colorado but they do drift northwest every now and then.  Then, he had a serious look on his face.  "One can kill you, one pulmonary embolism.  That's a blood clot in your lung, but you have made NINE of them, " he stated again.  "So I'm an overachiever!?"  not funny, apparently but true if you look at it that way.

I was feeling woozy from the good fall I'd taken.  I blacked out and was caught by my fellow police academy recruit friends.

"Ok, just fill my prescription and I'll be on my way, " I followed up with an air of confidence. 
Nope.  It was straight upstairs to the fourth floor for me.  I was headed to ICU.....without a change of underwear.  Thank God for girlfriends who brought me some.

I grabbed the oxygen mask off my face to exclaim that I had a test I needed to study for and be in class for the next day. 
Nope.
Sometimes life has other plans for you.  However, researching the severity of blood clots in the lung I realize now that God had other plans for me.  I was supposed to be here for a reason, a purpose. 

I think of this day often and the weekend and few days I spent in the Intensive care unit.  I have been able to run again, live again and breathe again. 

Life is too short to put off telling those you love that you do!!  And to appreciate the little things people do for you and what they mean to you. 

Sure, there are awful, greedy, mean and selfish (let's not forget stupid) souls out there but I think getting to know them makes me appreciate the good as much as I should. 

Friends!  Listen up!!  I love and appreciate all of you so much.  And we'll get through this asshat Governor's stupid mandate four months into a pandemic somehow.

 I might lose friends but if you've been able to click in and read this, you're still here.  Thank you for your support in everything.

A