I was built for this...

    I wasn't going to blog today.  I just wasn't.  It has been a sprint and May is looking like it will be even faster! And, frankly, I'm a little fried.  But, I was built for this.
    That is the mantra, that suddenly popped into my head one night, in moment of clarity, as I raced from having put the bambini to bed, back to the hospital, while my neighbor, Amy, kept the kids safe.  I needed to see Kimmy again, although I was exhausted, I knew she was even more exhausted - how do you sleep in a hospital?  You have machinery hooked up to you, restricting, beeping...you have constant activity in the halls...and, just when you think you are drifting off, your vitals need to be checked.  It is what it is.  And I needed to see her, to hold her hand, to kiss her lips...and I found myself hurtling down Broadway, my mind on getting there, racing up the comfort of the darkened stairwells, and also on the bambini, tucked into bed - what were they thinking?  How were they feeling?  I knew I could help both and then, just like that, it popped into my head; 'I was built for this'...as if God himself whispered it into my ear.
     And, with help from the 'green drink', and all of the good people who cooked nutritious meals for us and brought me food constantly in the hospital, I kept up that routine...I had to.  Kim's eyebrows, you see, were always slightly raised...she was worried...I needed to be there for her...the bambini, seemed so much more fragile...I had to be there for them...so I split the time.  And, of course, there were soooo many of you, who filled in the impossible gaps, between where I was and where I needed to be...amazing.
     These last two days along have been like that - and, after I dropped the kids off safely at their second homes, school!, and was going back to Cottonwood, where I absolutely love to be a part of grading papers, helping with projects, and whatever they need, thinking that I needed to get more flyers for Kimmy's Kut-a-Thon to businesses (which, I did, from Chuy's to Civano!  Finding out that Subway is coming to where Quizno's was and Java's Edge had gone out of business and the kind words, at each establishment - they all remembered Kimmy and had nice things to say) and knowing that in between cooking Andrea's rice and chicken for the kids and making marinara sauce for the weekend, I needed to be out at Cienega High School, for a Vail School District budget meeting at 6:30 (thanks for giving me a ride Amy!  And Dawn, I will not waste my entertainment talents if you're technology is not prepared to partake!) After the meeting tonight, Matt Federoff, our school district's technology guru, came to me and told me that because of Kim, he has doubled his efforts to make sure his wife knows how much he loves her and feels that - when someone tells me that, I feel that Kim is still spreading her magic...thanks Matt!!...and finally, watching Aut and Tonio help plant new flowers in the Cottonwood garden...it came to me again, in a blur...I'm built for this...I have to be, the bambini needs it to be.  But sometimes, I'm just too tired to go on...

              Lookit how Tonio has his arm around Autumn - he is so full of love.  Tammy LaPlant helps Mariano with some rosemary.  Thank you Jenn Bell and the PTSA for resurrecting this garden, that was so important to Kim - she just wanted the children to have a place to plant and a place of beauty...Jenn was so impressed with Tonio - she asked him which plant he wanted to plant and he said the rosemary - 'You know which one it is?' 'Yes' Tonio answered.  'By how it looks?'  'Well, that and how it smells' plant expert Tonio answered.
            There is so much to do for Kimmy this month.  May 2nd...garden dedication...May 3rd....Town Hall Meeting to help Vail School District...May 7th...Cody's track championship...May 8th...Tonio's First Holy Communion on Mother's Day....May 10th...Aut's 11th birthday!...May 13th&14th....Relay for Life - Kimpossible T-shirts are here and are beautiful!!!...May 15th...Kimmy's Kut-a-Thon at Janene's Unique Identitiy Salon (more flyers to hang tomorrow!)...May 20th...Weiner Roast (uh, yes, Kimmy was so excited to be a part of Mrs. Schrantz, end of the year event for her kids!)....May 21st...Knights of Columbus raffle drawing (did you buy your tickets yet?  Can't win, if you don't play!  And if you play, Kimmy's Foundation wins!)...also our wedding anniversary...May 26th...Cody's 8th grade graduation!!!  Kimmy talked and talked about this...here, I am paralyzed...what to do for him???....May 27th...Aut and Tonio's last day of school...and I know that I am missing something....fill in any blanks for me...I was built for this??  I'm investing in Rock Star stock tomorrow. 
              
          Anyway, what made me blog tonight...was a bit of our past...reaching out via You Tube...Two of the most creative guys I've ever met, Rich Check and Andy Thom - Andy still works in designing/drawing/animating for movies (like an upcoming Spiderman movie)...we would spend hours creating skits and filming them...they came up with the whole Sorta-Realism movement, that I'm sure you're familiar with...and Andy sent me a link to a video that features Kim and I.  Back whhen the dinosaurs still roamed the earth...
           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-XNr5neJ30&NR=1
      And I loved Andy's email to me, as he sent me this vault from our past...the subject line just read 'WTF?'...and, to tell you the truth, I couldn't imagine...and, when I opened it, he wrote; 'OK, let me say I have completely NO recollection of this happening whatsoever...'  And this is really Andy's writing, as to preserve the authenticity of this piece, I actually cut and pasted his words!  As good as having a  star autograph something for you.   As I watched it, I didn't either.  But catch the glimpses of Kimmy...when I saw her, it hurled me back over the years, into that night, so long ago, in that perfect moment - just kids, having another greatest time - no worries, no stresses - just enjoying each other's company...and my heart, I can remember that love I felt for Kim at that moment, in that time...so all consuming...And I had to put this out there, so you could see it - remember, Kim was an artist, an incredible artist and she loved Check's creativity and Andy's talent.  When they worked together, I remember feeling so inadequate, so talentless, so un-funny - but they would never make you feel like that, they'd always encourage you and include you - even if you were a guy named Abul who did not care for the song they were interviewing you about....I love the part where Rich (oh, I'm sorry, let me set up the scene - Rich Check is the narrarator and Andy Thom is the guy restlessly pacing in the background...I'm guessing Jim Friedman was the camera man...and yes, that is me, being interviewed - I am that 'Guy on the Street'... (and possibly vocalist on the soundtrack), sitting next to the lovely Kim, who, sadly, has no lines, but smiles...so pretty...) throws away his microphone and says 'hey..we don't need this, this is television!'...simple, but we had a lot of fun being Sorta-Realists...it was a way of life...
       Although the date stamp on You Tube says 1987, I believe it was actually '82 or '83...so, 28, 29 years ago...damn. 

         So again, I ask you, please give Tonio a hug when you see him...tell Autumn how pretty her hair is (she's mostly doing it herself, but, I have to pull a Zohan for her now and again and style it for her)...congratulate Cody on his speed on the track..they appreciate all of the love and support that you give us...as for me, well, I was built for this!

            Love,
                Dave
PS and where is Andy Thom?...check this out!

         

http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/train-like-a-badass/2011/04/07