Personal (Affect) #8 My Favorite Wedding Present

My favorite wedding present

Oh, no!  Don't get me wrong mom & dad, the wedding itself was the best present for sure.  It's just that this little block of wood runs a close second.  Allow me to back up.  The year was 1999 and I had just moved out of my apartment and into my first home.  One of the first people I met in the neighborhood was an outgoing little 9 year old girl named Kristin that lived with her grandmother.

Kristen was not your average girl.  She was smart, pretty, curious, kind and full of energy.  Okay, she sounds like a normal girl - but she wasn't to me.  We became fast friends.  Kristen was a thinker.  She was interested in the places that Tad and I had traveled, our vegetarian lifestyle, Willis (my dog), gymnastics and anything else for that matter.  She tagged along with me almost everywhere I went.  She was up for anything.  She worked hard at gymnastics and I think she even tried a vegetarian lifestyle.

Tad and I were married in 2001.  Kristen and her friend (Mary) came to our wedding with the present they made for us - a sign with the words "Welcome to the Drusky's" hand painted on the front.  We were overjoyed to receive such a thoughtful present.

I believe this sign marks the point in Kristen's life when she began growing up and creating a busy life of her own.  I don't see her much anymore because she is in college spending most of her time studying or being a world traveler.

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Personal (Affect) #1. My Old Shrek Shoes

I lost my shoes on Interstate 24.

 These shoes are 17 years old, and yes I still have them and will not get rid of them.  My parents had to go to the scene of the accident on Interstate 24 to find them for me.


17 years ago I was a junior at Murray State University.  One evening my friend, Meena and I went shopping and bought matching shoes.  Believe it or not, those ugly Shrek shoes were popular then.  Shortly after buying the shoes our coach informed us that Murray State University made it to the NCAA.  It was in March of 1995 and Meena and I were on the cheerleading squad that traveled to the game in Florida and we were not leaving our new shoes behind.  We had the best time at the game and a very memorable weekend.  We flew back to Nashville then loaded into the van to go home.  On the way home just past Clarksville,TN our van flipped.  Meena and I had minor injuries, some walked away but others weren't as lucky.  Every year when the daffodils bloom I think of Ginger and the blessing of another spring.

"ACCIDENT: A van carrying the Murray State cheerleaders back from the NCAA men's basketball tournament crashed and overturned on an interstate in Tennessee Saturday, injuring 11 people. Two were critically injured and flown to a hospital in Nashville, about 50 miles away. Four were hospitalized in stable condition. The van, which was carrying 13 people, blew out a tire, crashed into the median, and skidded for several hundred feet on Interstate 24 in western Kentucky." - one cheerleader (Ginger) died after this announcement on March 25.


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