So - you've been listening to me talk for months. I wanted to share another perspective and I've invited a few people in my life to guest blog for re-BIRTH. So, welcome my friend Annie! We met through our employer in 2008 and have very complimentary personalities (i.e. we don't put up with each other's BS). While our lives have taken us to very different places, we continue to share a wonderful, honest friendship. And she is one of those people who loved my son before he even arrived - which makes her a keeper. We'll never see each other enough, which means we'll never get sick of each other :)
Take it away, Annie.
When Rachel and I met in 2008, in typical girl fashion, we
had to size each other up for a few weeks before we decided that we were both
awesome and we needed to be awesome together. We were working at Habitat for
Humanity, my first “real” job, and in just a few short weeks, we became fast
friends.
Rachel and I bonded over a common goal. That goal was to better
our community, city, state and world in whatever way we possibly could. We share
a passion for nonprofit work, as well as the very annoying need to keep
ourselves as busy as humanly possible. Many times we have talked about
combining my creativity and love for planning events with her strong skills in
nonprofit management and development; we just know we would be the dream team J. We have plotted and planned about our dream
nonprofit and how we could start it. Some day, I have every intention of
realizing that dream.
Throughout our friendship, I have gone through many ups and
downs. She has been there for me through my first, second, and third jobs, my
transition from a nonprofit to corporate setting (basically a career change in
my case), multiple moves, including my final move when I bought my house at the
age of 26. And of course, she helped me navigate between break ups, make ups
and everything in between. She was always there to listen to my drama of the
week and enlighten me with her words of wisdom. Even if those words were, “Oh
Annie, stop being a donkey,” which, though it might not exactly have solved my
problem, it always put a smile on face and made me stop and take time to
realize that whatever was going on in my life might not be as earth shattering
as I had originally thought it was. I was so appreciative to be able to lean on
Rachel during this part of my life. Over time, Rachel became someone I looked
up to, even though she is just a few years older than me.
When Rachel told me she was pregnant with Cameron, I
couldn’t have been more thrilled. I had been pestering her since the day after
she became a “Mrs.” to have a baby. She was going to be my first friend to have
a baby, so naturally as Rachel’s belly grew so did my excitement. I got to meet
Cameron the day he was born. He was absolutely perfect and I could just see the
love pouring out of Rachel and Brian. I felt so fortunate to be there for this
very special day. For the next week or so, I enjoyed all kinds of adorable pictures
of Cam via text and of course, on Facebook..
And then came the day I received an awful text – the day
that Rachel re-entered hospital. I was worried, but I just figured it was
something that the doctors would give her medicine for, send her home and she
would move on with her life. As we all
know, I was very wrong. Even after getting a few more details, I didn’t quite
understand what had happened; I just knew that at this point in time the roles
in our relationship might reverse, at least temporarily, and that I would need
to be there for Rachel to lean on. This was a concept I was not exactly
familiar with because as long as I had known Rachel, there wasn’t much she
couldn’t handle.
That being said, when Rachel was able to go home and was
making her way through the healing process, I watched her become Rachel times 20.
Not only did she confirm everyone’s predictions of becoming a wonderful and
loving mother to a beautiful and happy baby boy, she went above and beyond to
learn everything there was to know about what had happened to her. Armed with
this information, Rachel’s passion for improving her community/other’s lives
shined through. She located other SCAD survivors, became involved with the
American Heart Association (AHA), and made connections on a national level.
Watching Rachel accomplish all of this in less than a year was completely
inspiring. That wasn’t all though; she also started her blog, planned her very
first and successful “Heartiversary” fundraiser, and shared a very personal
part of her life very publicly on stage with Brian and Cam (who, of course,
stole the show) at the AHA Heart Ball.
During one of the many “heart to heart”(pun intended!) conversations,
I told her that the reason I never gave
her the standard “I’m here for you” or “Call me if your need anything” is
because of two things: First, the friendship that Rachel and I have formed doesn’t
require me to say that. She knows I will always be around if she needs a
shoulder to cry on or someone to tell her
stop being a drama queen. Second and most important, Rachel won’t break…not
because she feels like she can’t, or she is too stubborn to accept help, but
because Rachel has refused to see herself as a victim. She has turned her
misfortune into an opportunity to raise awareness for SCAD, has started
educating others on the importance of funding research for heart disease, and
most importantly, she has been supportive of others when they desperately need
it.
Watching Cam become a little boy rather than a baby, seeing
Brian continue to be not only an amazing and supportive husband, but now a
caring and loving father, and watching Rachel start to realize her potential as
an inspiration to others living with heart disease and/or their families, makes
me extremely proud and grateful to be a friend to their family.
Before this happened to my friend, I didn’t think it was
possible for women my age to be affected by things like heart attacks. I thought
they were a concern for the elderly and/or unhealthy. Being a part of Rachel’s
journey made me realize the importance of supporting heart disease awareness
and research AND the importance of taking care of myself. Hearing this story
from someone my age makes it real. I look forward to supporting Rachel in any
way that I can, and witnessing the huge effect she will have on our community,
city, state and world…just like we always talked about!
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