Brave Enough To Be Bliss

She chose to get her tattoo on the inside of her leg so she would be forced to see it every day. I liked that a lot and hoped that it would keep reminding her of choosing to live and that better days were ahead. It was a very good day. She was doing well in school, but with all the hands-on learning she had done working at the practice, she already knew a lot of what they were teaching. She was seeing a new therapist, and she seemed to trust him, so that was hopeful. Her dad, stepmother and I continued to share what we were hearing from her, which she knew we were doing given her past ability to fool us into thinking she was OK. This was one time, we couldn’t afford to let her outsmart us. We took a spring break trip to Arizona and we both enjoyed time in the sun. It had been a long eight months, so it felt good to do something that felt more like the old days. I continued to see Ginger and learn more and was constantly reminding myself I could only control myself and not Kylee. This was her journey, and I could not take it for her or make it any easier, all I could do was continue to become the healthiest person I could be and keep loving and encouraging her to do the same. I was so touched to receive the following email from her in August as she was preparing to start her final year of nursing school. It would soon be the last first day of school for her, but I wasn’t sad at all. I could only be grateful she was here to experience it. I’ve been meaning to take some time to write you a thank you for a while and tonight seemed like the right time. Thank you fo r everything you do and have done for me. Often times you are the one I take things out on and that’s completely unfair. Although it’s wrong I do it because I trust you and know you’re not going anywhere no matter what. I couldn’t do any of this without you an d you definitely don’t receive the credit or the thanks you deserve. I hope even when I’m in a bad way you never question that I appreciate you and love you. You are one of the strongest people I know, and I admire that so much. I know the sacrifices you ’ve made for me, and I could never thank you enough. Anyways I just wanted to thank you and tell you I love you always! It’s been really rough, so I just wanted you to know I see you and all you’re doing to support me, and it does not go unnoticed! I know this is hard on you too and I’m sorry! Goodnight. Love you! This year of nursing school she would be doing her clinicals, and she was very excited about getting hands-on time with patients. I spent many nights quizzing her that year, as memorization was still very difficult for her and there was a lot of it. I was just happy to be spending time with her, supporting her however I could. I was very encouraged when she sent a text on September 10, 2018, which was World Suicide Prevention Day, to everyone who had supported her over the past year. The fact she was feeling grateful for the people in her life seemed like a very positive and healthy step toward being grateful to be alive. After her freshman year of college, Kylee decided that any Foundation activity would have to be put on hold while she was in college. There was just no way she could think about anything other than studying and going to class, which was perfectly understandable. Kylee learned in September that she had been selected to receive an award from the Brain Injury Association of Missouri in recognition of her efforts for concussion education. All of this combined with what she had been working on with her therapist seemed to lift her spirits and I began to see some of that spunk return. It was a sight for sore eyes, and I hoped it was just the start of a big turnaround. In October 2018, I happened to see that the brother of a man named Dan who I knew many years ago from a sports information connection had passed away, so I contacted him through Facebook Messenger to offer my condolences. After the funeral had passed, he followed back up and we had some further communication. It turned out he was also divorced, and it appeared he might be interested in getting better acquainted. From: Kylee Bliss To: Ginger Bliss Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 12:42 AM

119