Happy Anniversary to Me

As some of you know, every year I celebrate a strange and unusual anniversary. Yesterday was my 20th anniversary of "The Incident" as my parents call it. On October 19th, 1988 I was a freshman in college. A few of my girlfriends and I went out to a bar in Greensboro, NC (Hooligan's...I should have known, right?) on a Wednesday night for College Night. As we were leaving the bar there was a drive-by shooting. At the exact same time we were leaving. Do I have great timing or what? Apparently there was a fight earlier that night and two guys got into a brawl with some of the employees and got kicked out. Well those guys left and came back with a gun. So as we were leaving, they drive by the entrance of the bar and start shooting into the crowd. The same crowd me and my friends were in. I never saw the car or the guys or the gun. I heard it though. Pop, pop, pop....just like in the movies. I feel something warm on my hand and look down. Blood dripping down my right palm. I turn to my friend Kirsten and say matter of fact,"Kirsten, I've been shot." Then I feel the same warm sensation down my right leg and then across the small of my back. Are you freakin' kidding me? Everyone is in a panic. Bouncers are shoving people back in the bar, people are running to their cars. I am separated from all my friends. I don't know what to do other than lie down and wait for someone to help me. An older gentleman that worked as a bouncer (I never did get his name) came over and sat with me while we waited until the ambulance arrived. I remember asking him if I was going to be paralyzed. It's weird to think back and realize I never thought I was going to die. I was worried about being paralyzed. Call it being young or naive or maybe I just knew that my time was not up. So the ambulance arrives and they put me in. Then my friend Ashley is brought in. She was shot in the arm just above the elbow. She was behind me when the shooting happened so doctors later speculated that one of my GSWs (gunshot wounds for you laypeople) that went in and out of me, lodged into her arm. I like to say I slowed the bullet down for her. I know, I am warped. All of my GSWs had entry and exit wounds. They all went in me as fast as they went out of me. So I am brought to the nearest ER and more chaos ensues. They are asking me to sign paperwork, etc. so they can operate. They initially only saw my hand and leg injury. It wasn't until I was there for a while that someone noticed more blood leaking from my back. So more chaos, then I am wheeled to the OR. I remember them asking me to count back from 20. I made it to 17. I wake up a day later trying to pull tubes out of my nose and mouth. I am disoriented and in PAIN. I was never in pain right after the shooting. That's what most people ask me when I tell them my story. I guess my body went into shock or survival mode. I was not in any pain until after I woke up from the surgeries. So I am guessing I woke up sometime on Thursday. My parents had received a phone call by then and were on their way. My Dad was stationed in Iwakuni, Japan at the time, so they didn't arrive until Friday. Imagine getting that call?? Back then there was no Internet or emails or texts. Someone called my brother at Virginia Tech and told him as much as they knew at the time which was very little. He then had to pick up the phone and dial Japan and tell my parents, "Stacey's been shot. She's at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC. That's all I know." Click. I can't imagine what the 2-day trip must have been like for my parents. I think my mom was given lots of sedatives to help her sleep on the airplane. Until they could get there, my friend Ashley's mother sat with me. She lied to the hospital and told them she was my surrogate mother so they would allow her to stay with me after visiting hours. Very smart lady. So mom and dad arrive on Friday to a battered but healing daughter. My stay at Moses Cone was only 8 days. After that it was crutches for a couple of months. I went back to school just a few weeks later and caught up on all my classes. My parents reluctantly went back to Japan knowing I would be meet them later in Japan for Christmas break. I have no major health issues as a result of the shooting (incident). The bullet that went through my right hand missed all my nerves and bones. The bullet that went through my right leg shattered my femoral vein. It missed my bone there as well. Doctors later told me that if it had shattered my femoral artery I would have bled out more than likely. And the bullet that traveled through the small of my back missed my spinal cord and all of my organs. I know, I was lucky all things considered. I have my scars though. A nice scar on my stomach where surgeons went in from the front to do exploratory surgery on my organs and back. A nice, long scar on my upper leg from the 20+ staples they used after sewing up my femoral vein. I also have a small scar on my hand from where they stitched me back up. If I look close enough, I can find all 6 entry and exit wounds on my body. So that's my story. Yesterday was my 20th anniversary. I can't believe it's been 20 years. God spared me that fateful day and here I am 20 years later with a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. My parents live nearby and get to spend quality time with us and the kids weekly. I have the best friends in the world. I couldn't ask for a better life. So Happy Anniversary to Me....