I Was On The News!!

As many of you know, I was in a near-fatal car crash in 2005 with an 18-wheeler merely two weeks after my high school graduation from McKinney North. The crash and impact were so severe that it caused my neck to break, damaged my C6 spinal cord, and ultimately resulted in me becoming paralyzed.

We don't always understand why things happen and can spend our entire lives wondering, questioning, and reliving moments. Or we can embrace our past and present experiences, learn from them, and help others along the way. We have all been through unique and extraordinary events -- some of intense depth, pain, and struggle and others of amazing greatness and honor. We are all on a journey of understanding and purpose and all have something to offer this world.

In 2009, I started sharing my story - a story of perseverance from bullying, recreational drug and alcohol use, and extreme loss; forgiveness; self-discovery; and purpose. One of the organizations that I align with and share my story through is Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). I was presented an opportunity this week to serve as a guest speaker at this year's Dallas and Tarrant County Joint DWI Task Force Press Conference (11/12/2014) held in Grand Prairie. The mission was to encourage responsibility during this holiday season and present recent updates to DWI offense handling.

 

 

Courtesy: @GrandPrairiePD 

Happy Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day was an amazing day spent with my 2 Moms. It began at Covenant Church with an awesome worship service & also where my Mom was awarded as a "TOP MOM!" Then we had a wonderful lunch at Dos Charros & rented a redbox. I can never thank you enough Mom for your sacrifice every day in caring for me. You mean so much to me. You have my heart Mom! You too Second Mom.

My Top Mom Submission:

Where do I even begin?
Not a single word I could ever speak could begin to explain how amazing my Mom is and how she truly goes above and beyond in every way. She is an extraordinary mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, caregiver, and woman of God.
I was in a car crash 9 years ago with an 18-wheeler and almost died. In fact, I did die four times but God breathed life back into me and I'm forever grateful that He did because it is through such life that I learned how incredibly blessed I am, how much God loves me, and how much my family loves me. I was in inpatient recovery hospitalization for 5 months (in 4 different hospitals) and my Mom was with me every step of the way, every day. Nearly every night, she stayed in the cot next to my hospital bed and every day, she was persistently advocating, motivating, praying, and speaking life over me and still does to this day. In a place and state full of despair and can'ts, she reminded me that I still have a purpose and to keep my faith. When it was time to come home from the hospital, my loving Mom quit her job of nearly 25 years to become my full-time caregiver, a tremendous sacrifice. She released all of who she was and wanted to be - completely dropped it - to take care of me. She not only cooked and cleaned the house but now also dressed and undressed me, cleaned me when I messed on myself, bathed me, fed me, changed my catheters, turned me in the bed at night to prevent pressure sores (as did my Dad and boyfriend), and all the other many little (and big) things that able-bodied persons and families could not even imagine. She does and does and does for me and others until she can do no more and then, hunched over from exhaustion and grimacing from aching feet, still asks if there is anything else she can do. She is an absolute blessing. Her heart and spirit radiates and captivates the world around her. She gives and serves so much to those in need but hardly ever takes time for herself. I began my response in saying that words cannot express the kind of woman that my Mom is and I conclude with that same declaration. My Mom is so special, so deserving, so wonderful of a person and I just want her to know how much her love and sacrifice means to me. It is through her sacrifice and love that God revealed Himself to me and helped me to truly understand His love and who He is. "Greater love has no man than he who lays down his life." She lays down her life every day.

THANK YOU COVENANT CHURCH MCKINNEY!