Tag Archives: dealing with grief

Losing Two: Kim Tiderman’s Story

I wrestled with whether or not to write this particular post. The only reason I’ve moved forward, I’ve decided, is because the Red Dirt Chronicles community is so much larger than any one of our contributors’ individual circle of acquaintances. Therefore I thought this post and video could be helpful to someone, somewhere.

Four years ago I received a call from my parents.  They asked me, “Has Drew called you about Kim Tiderman’s family?”  I had no idea what they were talking about and had to ask what he meant.  Evidently, my daughter’s boyfriend at the time (he’s now my son-in-law) had family members who were killed in a car accident by a drunk driver and they were sharing the news.  My father was an elder in Kim’s church and he received the news through those channels.

Ugh…this was so hard.

It was an extremely difficult time that rocked Kim’s family and the whole Tuttle community.  And although I was on the periphery, it was hard for me to watch the pain experienced by Kim’s family members and loved ones.

It’s been four years since that wreck, and Kim recently told her story on a faith-based TV station.  I thought she did a good job, and I thought that if someone had recently experienced a tragedy, it might be helpful to share something of this story.

And, if you are one of those who needs to hear this story because you’ve endured a great loss, then I’m really sorry about that too.

[kelly]

 

Rejecting Chumbawamba; Accepting Adolescent Doodles

My therapy. You'll soon find out why...

I experienced two brand new phenomena on Friday, November 18th.

First, I chose to turn on “The Sports Animal” talk radio mid-morning after I heard the OSU plane crash news.  I promise you, that’s never happened before.   Although I’ve been a “victim of the environment” wherein my husband listens to sports talk radio with me in the car, and I choose not to throw a fit “because this is ridiculous and endless ranting about mindless nothingness,” I’ve never made a conscious decision to listen.

Second?  I heard grown men crying openly as they called in to “The Sports Morning” host, recounting the sadness of having two plane crashes impact the OSU Athletic Department and community within ten years.  One man couldn’t finish his comment because he was crying and simply hung up.  Responding to the following caller who was happy and excited about some other BCS Bowl possibility, the radio announcer said, “I wish I didn’t even have to work today.  This feels weird and wrong to be doing this kind of show right now.”

Let’s make that that three new experiences: At that moment, I gained respect for the announcer on Sports Talk Radio.  Continue reading Rejecting Chumbawamba; Accepting Adolescent Doodles