Last Tuesday night Rob and Leigh sat in their new hot tub celebrating life and talking about their future. I was three hours away, in Folsom, preparing for another celebration. Wednesday was my mom’s 80th birthday.
While I shopped and lunched with Mom in Folsom, Leigh collapsed, stopped breathing, and her heart quit beating in Whitmore. Rob was with her when this happened. They were having lunch at home. I can only imagine what his next few moments were like. Thinking that she may have choked on something he cleared her airway, called 911, called Richard and yelled, “Come now,” and then began CPR. He was trained as an EMT in the Army Reserve, thank God. For the next 15 or 20 minutes, he kept oxygen going to her brain, while they waited for the paramedics. She was taken to Shasta Regional Memorial Hospital in a helicopter.

She is on life support.

When I came back to Barbie’s from shopping with Mom, she said, “ Sit down.”
I hate those words.
I said, “You are going to tell me something bad, aren’t you. Oh, no, I know you are going to tell me something bad. Oh, no. Oh no. Don’t…”
I drove back to Redding, screaming and crying all the way.
I am dying for Leigh. I love her as my own daughter. I can’t stand to see her there with all those tubes… Bless her precious, sweet heart. She is so brave and strong. She is so kind and stoic and calm and, and loving.
The feelings I have for Rob are exponentially more severe. This is my baby boy and he is frightened and hurting and crying and I can’t do anything but cry with him. I feel so helpless and impotent and useless.