new beginnings_

so i've met a boy. not recently...well, sort of. we went to high school together, but never hung out. our circles rubbed edges, but never merged. i knew him by name only. he knew me by name, face, and car (i drove an old school pathfinder littered with rock climbing, kayaking, and dmb stickers_kindof hard to miss). but i digress.
so here's how our circles finally merged.

.........................once upon a time {no good story

can begin with anything else}....................................

a boy was in a motorcycle accident. and it was bad. i found out via facebook {are you surprised} and saw where his family had started a caringbridge website. i signed up to receive his updates via email, so every night around 10:30 or so, I would wake up to the buzz of my blackberry graciously informing me of said boy's medical status. i began to look forward to these updates, though they would more often than not rouse me from a wicked cool dream. i know, that's an early bedtime {did i mention i used to be an old lady...}. i followed him and prayed for him through fevers, infections, a bk amputation, wet lungs, speaking valves and trach weaning (my specialty), feeding tubes (also a specialty), and then he woke up. Soon he was home from the hospital and began updating his website himself. so i started thinking about him more and more, especially since he started popping up on facebook all time. sometimes i would be in the middle of the day and randomly think about him. when i thought of him i would pray for him and his recovery.
then one day i signed on and he had changed his picture. to this: i love a man with a beard. i realized then how handsome he looked with a beard. and i wanted to tell him. now, those of you who know me know that i am very shy when it comes to boys. and only when it comes to boys. i don't hit on boys or give them more attention than any other gender...and by any other gender i mean female. just to clarify. but i really wanted to tell this boy. so i did. on his facebook wall. LAME. i mean, what? are we in highschool? apparently. i realize how ridiculous this all sounds. but we had no other way of knowing each other! that is my excuse. that sparked some conversation...via facebook...which brings me to thanksgiving break. i was coming home. i let the world know...{on facebook}...and lo and behold...the boy wanted to hang out...and this time he asked me. hooray! so we spent everyday of thanksgiving break together. and every weekend/and or week since. seriously. and now that boy has become one of my best friends. and boyfriend. double wow.

what is his name, you ask? kyle. kyle rampey. after dating we realized some strange little quirks in our pasts and families that relate to one another. so here they are. my grandmother taught his mom and her sisters. my mom and his mom are both nurses...and worked together for years at the hospital...and his mom took care of me after i was born. right before she got pregnant with kyle...or maybe she was even a couple of weeks pregnant? nah. numbers don't add up. anyway, i was going to be named kyle thomas if i were a boy. his name is kyle and his dad's name is thomas. and..oh, wait! MY dad's name is thomas. we happen to know a lot of the same people, not only because we went to the same school, but because his sister married a guy that went to the church where i was raised. my family knew his family pretty well. so there you have that.
so about kyle. about us. we are wonderfully compatible. like nothing i've ever experienced. we have a blast together, even when we're sitting around doing nothing. and i can be completely myself around him. and i mean COMPLETELY. and he loves it. what?

.....here are the things we are not.....

we are NOT the same person. we are NOT argumentative. we are NOT biting. we are NOT distant. we are NOT needy (most of the time). we are NOT dramatic. we are NOT hard on each other. we are NOT passive aggressive.

...here are the things we are...we ARE different. we ARE totally "that couple." we ARE weird (well, maybe not as weird as this picture). we ARE incredibly laid back. we ARE honest with each other...brutally. we ARE easy to get along with. we ARE easy to please (most of the time). we ARE best friends. we ARE believers. we ARE optimistic and positive. we ARE healthy. we ARE in love. we ARE quiet. we ARE good at speaking the other's love language. we ARE outdoorsy. we ARE sushi lovers. we ARE fascinated with the study of medicine. we ARE silly. we ARE funny. we ARE fun. we ARE loving. we ARE better together.



one of the things that i love about us is that we ARE different....
i am loud. kyle is quiet. i am disorganized. kyle is particular. he would love to have a garden like this. i would not. i like to go go go. kyle is a homebody (at least right now). i am a talker. kyles is not. i have the tendency to be artsy fartsy. kyle does not. i enjoy weird music (or what kyle would call weird). kyle does not. i like to get dirty. kyle does not. kyle hates to drive long distances. i do not. kyle loves abercrombie and fitch. i do not. i talk a lot about my feelings. kyle does not. kyle can go DAYS without a shower. i cannot. kyle loves taco bell. i do not. kyle likes toe rings and thumb rings. i do not. i act on emotion. kyle does not.

we compliment each other in the most perfect ways. i get him out of the house and he slows me down. i bring out the conversationalist in him and he quiets me. i can motivate him and he soothes me when i am too hard on myself. he can focus on the outside and i focus on the inside. i shower and he doesn't, so at least one of us is clean. hahahahhahahahha.

i will confront this one head on. i've had people ask if the amputation bothers me. the answer is absolutely not. is it scary sometimes? yes. it is for everyone involved. especially him. one thing that is neat about us and works to our advantage is that i'm a therapist. i work in inpatient rehab. i've seen people with similar stories come through the halls of the hospital. i've treated them. i've laughed with them. i've cried with them. and i celebrated with them as they succeeded. so the fear is never overwhelming. taking care of him physically when necessary never bothers me. he takes care of me too. kyle is ok. and will continue to make gains. we have only scratched the surface of his rehab potential. a couple more surgeries and there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. my gift is encouragement. i am fascinated by the body's God-given ability to heal and i couldn't be more thrilled to witness it first hand and have the privilege to be a part of this story.

his family has been so accepting of me. they are also wonderful and supportive. as many of you know, my family is going through a difficult time. and his family has been patient and loving with me, and willing to take care of me whenever i've needed it. i hope that i can return the favor.

he is not someone i would have put myself with. so God did. sometimes you don't know what you need until it is given to you. and so it is with us. he calms me. he slows me. he challenges me. he is patient with me. he encourages me. he supports me. he loves me. and for that i am grateful.