Katye

Some of you may know who Katye is. For those of you who don't, here is a little background.
Kathryn Hamilton was born in 1989 to my dad's brother, Dennis, and his wife Michelle. She had a heart defect that doctors attempted to correct with several surgeries over two years, but were not successful. She passed away a month after she turned two and a year after that, I was born. My parents gave me the middle name of "Kathryn" after her, and ever since then, I have found my own reasons for why they did.
The influence of that name has come up in my life regularly and I have had some incredible experiences that really make me feel like I know the kind of person that she is. While I was in Florida, there were a few weeks where I was having a particularly difficult time with everything. I was overwhelmed and I had sunk to complaining to everyone about something different in my life. I have a distinct memory of one day like that. I was on the bus to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries, listening to my iPod on shuffle and this song came on. I've heard it before and, of course, thought of Katye but this time was different. I thought about how I had been acting. Yes, I had been going through rough times but don't we all? I don't have any excuse to complain just because I have a trial in my life. I thought specifically of Katye and the trials she had to go through. She had physical pain for her whole two years of life on this earth but all of the pictures I see, videos I watch, and stories I hear are of how happy and innocent she was. It was in that moment that I felt ashamed. I knew I was going to be okay and I wasn't doing anything good with Katye's name by whining. I knew I had to live up to her legacy and what she established with that sweet name. From that day on, I worked to be more positive and proud of what my name carries.
Last week at work, I was monotonously scanning files of death certificates when Katye's name on a file caught my eye. I went through this one carefully and reminisced on all of the experiences I have had concerning her name. Although we never met in this mortal life, I feel like I know her. I thanked her in my head for helping me through this life with these little reminders of how important it is to stand for something because you have to be proud of what you leave behind. As I finished scanning her documents, I drew a heart on the inside of her file folder, smiled, kissed her name and case number, and continued my work with a little extra spark.

Unfinished Business

Well, well, well. The day has finally come. On September 10th, I was longing for the night I would be sitting in Orlando International Airport waiting for my flight back home to my wonderful family and friends. Never in my wildest dreams would I expect to dread the same night. You may remember this post where I was really struggling to find the positive aspects of this program. Well let me tell you, I found them.

The Walt Disney Company exceeded every expectation I had.

I just found this "unfinished" post. It's exactly two weeks later, to the hour, than when I originally started writing this. I'm sitting in bed, trying to decide how to sum up this adventure. Let's just say they were four months that I will never forget and they will contribute to who I am for the rest of my existence. As for me, I'm continuing many adventures in this crazy life. So much has changed in these last two weeks and I can't begin to imagine where the next two weeks, four months, and beyond will take me. So let's keep this one unfinished.