River Life...An Emergency without Close Friends & Family

**I am a little wordy with this post...pictures are at the end! What a few weeks it has been. I have to start by saying I cannot wait for us to be back together in Tennessee. Before we left traditional life (house, full time professional jobs with benefits) people expressed their concerns and opinions at times when they heard what we were about to do. I actually liked when they did because it did give me time to reflect and consider things. I only had an emotional reaction to one. Thank goodness the lady said it to Johnny and not me. I am sure he just gently smiled and nodded his head like the nice guy he is. She told him we were doing our kids such a disservice because we were not going to be providing them with a home. Our boys will tell you hands down, this has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. I guess we just have a different definition of a home. Ours has nothing to do with what we sleep in at night. It does have to do with the quality of relationships and parenting that takes place. Anyway, I cannot wait to get back to my HOME!! The only comment that people offered that has some validity is not having easy access to your friends and families. Here are few examples of what that looks like!

I was on the phone with my friend when she had a wreck about a month ago. It wasn't her fault--she was rear ended. It was a helpless feeling. She was moaning and disoriented. She would not respond with any sense, and then I heard a lady passionately telling her to stay in the car and not move. She wasn't listening. Anyway, it turned out she was fine, but it was a helpless feeling.

And then there was the broken bones incident in North Carolina. John Gannon has an ortho appt. on Friday to get his stitches removed and a full cast put one. We will head back to TN after that appt. We will have to return in about 4 weeks for another minor surgery. When John got injured in the football game it was the first time we have had an emergency type situation and not had close friends and family near. First off, Johnny was working that day, and I was trying to watch both boys on two different fields. I am thankful I was at John's game when he got hurt. After a few minutes I knew that he had hurt his leg badly. When he kept groaning for that long I knew it could not be good. He may groan a few minutes, but then he will get up and keep going. He never got up to keep going...all of the people who looked at it on the field had stated it was probably just sprained. I wanted to believe that but wasn't so convinced due to his uncharacteristic response. 

Here is where it gets comical. For some reason when people I care about are hurt, I get faint. I did this when my mom returned to a hospital room after surgery, at the site when Jackson broke his arm, and when we picked up a dog that was still under anesthesia from a surgery. I can't control it, it just happens. SO when I stood to get on the Gator that they were going to transport us to the car in, it happened. My hearing stopped, the field started spinning and the hot chill feeling covered my body. I tried to tell the guy beside several times what was happening. Mind you, we were in the middle of the field being watched by lots of people. I did all I could and just dropped to my knees and tried to lower my head in hopes that the blood would return enough that I could stand up and get on that thing before I completely passed out. I am sure everyone wondered what in the world I was doing. Maybe they thought I felt the need to stop and pray... Regardless, I was eventually able to board the Gator and carry on. So there I was, fainting on the field with no family or friends--all of which would have been there if we were in MS. No one on that field even knew my name! 

Fast forward to the ER. They were extremely SLOW. When Jackson broke his arm we were in and out within an hour and half. They had not even taken him back for an X-ray at that point. Time kept passing and we all were extremely hungry. The original plan was to eat out in North Carolina after the game. The hospital cafeteria was closed. At this point I realized how blessed we had always been to have so many people that we could have called. We had no one. Jackson's coach did drop in and ask "if we needed anything." I didn't feel comfortable telling him we were starving and sending him out to get our food! So, as Jackson would tell it, we starved until almost 5:00 that evening. We then grabbed some carry out at Zaxbys. Our family and friends would not have left us to starve :) 

So, just to be fair because I have talked about one of things we have enjoyed about this type of living is the sense of community people have at the campground...just know that it cannot take the place of friends and family that you know you can count on when you are fainting in front of a lot of people or when you are starving! I am sure as time passes we will meet some people and begin having more than surface relationships...until them I just hope there are no more emergencies!

Before John's injury, here are some pictures from our adventures since the last time I posted.

 We had a great visit with our friends from Indiana, the Vansickle's.

We made some new friends, Jack, Oli, and Lily. Jack is from England and his wife is from Sweden. Their family currently lives in Florida. They only intended staying one night and moving on to explore new areas. They ended up staying a week with us. The kids had so many adventures and we enjoyed chatting and getting to know him/them. They were on their way to meet their mom/wife in North Carolina.

 This guy got some more raft guide training in down the Nantahala.

 We, the Jolley's, and one of our new camper friends, Lucas, took a trip down the middle Ocoee.

 I bet you can't guess where Jackson wanted to ride?

 Go Forth was pushing a little harder that day. Jackson had to show Lucas how to slide.

 Jumping in at Cat's Pajamas on the Ocoee!

 Jackson tested his guiding skills out on the middle.

 And of course, some football pictures.

 And there was John (#23).

So, there you have it. We (John and I) miss our home and are ready to return. The only thing that is missing, great friends that are close and family! However, I must say that our family and friends have done an outstanding job taking care of us these past 2 weeks! 

Live a Meaningful Life!