Almost a year ago, I think, I had a whole bunch of bad luck hit me at once, so I sent my friend Shawna an e-mail with the subject line of “The Continuing Saga of Pam’s Sucky Life.” And her reply was that that would be a great title for a blog! I gave it some serious thought, but then decided that I really didn’t want to focus that much on the negative.
Well, damn it, sometimes you just gotta.
My weekend got off to a fairly great start – no major problems with the new meds. In fact, I was actually feeling a bit better over the weekend, albeit a bit more tired.
We went to Topeka on Saturday for the MADD candlelight ceremony. We weren’t able to go last year because of bad weather, so it was great to get to go this year.
The man that was driving when my brother was killed was put on trial by the state and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. While the DA met with us regularly, my mom had contacted MADD for additional support and they sent one of their victim advocates to meet with us. This woman was our lifeline. She came to every single court date with us. What a wonderful woman. It was fun to get to see her again. And seeing how all of the other families greeted her, I honestly can’t imagine how many lives she has touched. I’ll admit it was also kind of fun to see her since she hadn’t seen me in two years – 80+ pounds ago. 
Here is a picture of the candles after the lighting ceremony. Each candle represents a life that has been lost due to drunk driving.
And here is my brother’s candle:
As we were getting ready to say goodbye to our advocate, I mentioned to her that if she should come across a sibling in any of her cases that would like to talk to someone who has been in their shoes, she was welcome to give them my contact info. She took that one step further. She brought up the idea again of my possibly becoming a volunteer advocate myself. I could talk one on one with the families and/or attend their court hearings with them. I’ve always been interested in this idea and we had discussed it back when she was attending court with us. She re-emphasized how great she thinks I would be at it, which made me feel pretty good as it was coming from her. There’s a few things I need to figure out before proceeding, but I think this is definitely something I’d like to pursue eventually. What a great chance to make a difference.
After the ceremony, we drove by the KS state capitol building:
So overall, my weekend got off to a fantastic start! THEN on Saturday night, we were just relaxing as we were all pretty drained both physically and emotionally. I decided to eat a couple of pieces of Starburst (yum). Well, I think somebody decided that I should be punished for that decision.
Back over the summer, a small piece of one of my crowns broke off and the dentist was able to repair it without having to give me a whole new crown. Hallelujah, right? Well, this time it was my other crown. <sigh> Exact same kind of break. So I’m thinking great. Now I’m going to have to figure out how I’m going to pay for this repair.
Sunday goes okay – I’m careful to eat on the other side of my mouth. We run a bunch of errands, do some Christmas shopping and prepared (somewhat) for the snow we got last night and are supposed to get tomorrow.
Cut to this morning (Mon. morning). I wake up to go to the bathroom and I don’t even bite down, I pretty much just close my mouth, and the other crown breaks! I mean come on, really? And this time it’s so bad that I know I’m going to need a whole new crown. What the hell. Now I have to figure out how to pay for both a repair and a whole new crown. Worst case scenario, two whole new crowns. Of course, the warranty period is up. ARGH. And did I mention that these crowns are on opposite sides of my mouth? Try eating!
But, I’m sorry, what are the freaking odds? Both break within a 48-hour period? And too, does no one take pride in doing a good job anymore? I mean, I’ve heard of crowns popping off before – no problem – but breaking like this? It’s nuts!
So I called my dentist this morning and I have an appointment Wednesday morning. Hopefully the snow and ice storm takes a breather so I can get there. Based on past history, I’m envisioning an entire day at the dentist. Hopefully I’ll be able to get to bed right after work tomorrow so I can get some sleep. Then, when this minor catastrophe is resolve, I’m setting out to find a new dentist.
Then to top it off, work was totally insane tonight.
It’s times like this that you just gotta laugh or make way for the guys with the little white strait jackets.
Sorry to hear about the crowns. Glad you got to go to the MADD ceremony. Sounds like you will become a MADD volunteer down the road, how cool.
Good thing you could get an appointment that fast! Good luck! Drink smoothies…
What rotten luck! Great that you can get into the dentist so soon!
Being a MADD volunteer sounds like it would be a good thing for you……helping others through the same pain you’ve come through would be a good thing for you.
NOT FAIR! Crowns are so expensive AND painful you think that they would make them strong enough to withstand a chewy burst of fruit flavor.
That MADD thing sounds like it could be a silver lining to a horrible tragedy.
Enjoying some reading here!
it would have been a great blog too. people heart schadenfreude.
Sorry about the dental problems. Hopefully it will be all resolved at your appointment. Also, I so enjoyed reading the passages of your brother’s notebook. Thank you for sharing the memories even though it must have been difficult to do. Your posts about him serve two big purposes — keeping his memory alive (I felt like I could see the younger him while reading his notebook entries) and reminding people about the many tragedies that come with drunk driving.
Hope your dental issues are better by now.
) That surely must have had to suck.
I so agree with your MADD advocate. I think you would do a wonderful job. Just think about all of the people you could help. It gives me the goosebumps just thinking about it. Thanks for sharing those pictures as well. They were beautiful.