My Sister Kathy

Kathy Elaine Herrod Robison
November 12, 1981- April 4, 2008

Today would have been my sister's 27th birthday. We think about her everyday, especially as Micah has milestones. She was so much a part of our lives that her absence is always noticed. But at the same time, it is gradually becoming the new "normal" and that is difficult to accept.

Here are some pictures that we love of her. She and Mama were so close . . . and so much alike. The middle picture is of the four of us inside the elevators in the St. Louis Gateway Arch during our trip there last summer '07. We had such a wonderful time. We are grateful to have been so close, but that also makes it harder to deal with her loss. The picture on the right is us with Grandaddy & Grandma Herrod in 1984 in front of our old house. We spent a lot of quality time with them too. Pray for these people. Pray for all of us, including my stepdad John and for Mark. We just miss her so much.

I know Nathan misses Kathy the most. They made each other very happy.

And the holidays are here.

More pictures. The first one is from a family birthday party. The second is from last Christmas. We always took pictures of Grandaddy and his girls each holiday or birthday, and it won't seem right with her missing this year. That is the thought we can't escape: a very significant member of our family is missing.



Sorry for such a depressing post. . . just been one of those days.

On a different note, the other thing I always think of on this day is my stroke. In 1999, on the night of Kathy's birthday I had a stroke on the left side of my brain. I was 21 years old and very scared. At first I couldn't remember many things and couldn't read. I also had trouble knowing what to say. I had a condition called "aphasia". You should look it up! (Not sure when aphasia awareness month is, but for me it's November.) However, over the next few days and months I recovered rapidly. After three months of therapy @Vanderbilt's Bill Wilkerson Pi Beta Phi institute I was able to gradually return to school. (I had about 16 hours left.) Thank you to all the therapists that helped me, to my neurologist Dr. Kirschner (who always made me say "the phantom floats over the foggy heath" which was a significant challenge at the time), to Dr. Bradburn & Dr. Witt in M'boro who diagnosed me, to Dr. Rudd who followed up with me, to my professors who were flexible and patient with me, and all my family members who drove me to Nashville for therapy.

Whew! I promise to do a lighter topic next time!