...
| Horror World http://horrorworld.org/msgboards/ |
|
| Christmas Horror Stories http://horrorworld.org/msgboards/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10997 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Sat Nov 26, 2011 12:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Christmas Horror Stories |
Not fiction, but real-life and less-than-happy experiences tied to the Yuletide. Have any? I have one (the worst experience of my life, in fact), but I'll hold off till later. Meantime, feel free to give the gift of sorrows, horrors, and plain old bad luck. Who knows? Maybe it'll help lighten the load... |
|
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Sun Dec 18, 2011 1:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
Okay, here goes: Part One of The Worst Christmas. In September of 1997, my wife, Bridget, was diagnosed with brain tumors. Four of them. One of the doctors on the case, after conferring with Bridget's other doctor, said that he was 99% sure that these tumors were a recurrence of the melanoma she'd had removed from the center of her back 7 years previous. Bridget wasn't convinced. After being told that one of the tumors was near the surface enough for them to attempt a needle biopsy, she said, "Yes. Do that." The doc (an oncologist) took me aside, said, "I don't recommend this." "Why?" "Because I already know what the results will be. Also, drilling through her skull may only lead to more problems." "Then what do you suggest?" "Go home. Live your lives, both of you. Spending your last few weeks, or maybe months..." [Bridge was given -- Christ, what a stupid word in this context -- 3 months to live] "...in hospital rooms is no way to make the best of your time together." Bridget wouldn't budge. (She rarely did.) The doc was right: the biopsy proved malignancy. And the next MRI showed 16 tumors; each of the original four had three more to play with. It was like throwing gasoline on a fire. Fast forward to Christmas. Bridget and her mother (Gaga to our daughters) went off to visit folks and deliver a few presents, while I kept Kayla and Dylana entertained at Gaga's apartment. An hour later the telephone rang. Bridget, her mother explained between sobs, had collapsed on the floor of some friends' house. The ambulance has been called. Arrangements had been made for the girls to go to a friend's place a few doors down, while the friend's husband whisked me over to the hospital to which Bridget was being taken. To be continued... |
|
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
I arrived at the hospital. Half an hour later, Bridget was wheeled in. (They'd been a considerable distance away.) She was taken to Intensive Care. Bridget's mother (her name is Donna) and I discussed whether or not the girls should be brought over...and we opted in the affirmative. Kayla (nearly 7 years old at the time) came solemnly up to me in the waiting room and asked, "Did Mommy die?" I couldn't speak; I merely shook my head and hugged her. Dylana (age 3) joined the hug. Donna's friends then took the girls down the hall where a room full of toys awaited. Some unknown time later a doctor came to us, told us all they could do now was make Bridget as comfortable as possible (with the benefit of morphine), and that a decision needed to be made. The decision. All that kept my wife alive were the machines attached to her. No hope for anything like a recovery. What to do next? Donna felt that the day after Christmas would be a better day for her daughter's passing so that, perhaps, her daughters wouldn't always remember Christmas as the day Mommy died. Myself, I couldn't see where it made much difference -- the Christmas season would bring these memories back, regardless of the exact day it all occured. I went along with Donna's wishes, however. To be continued... |
|
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:48 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
December 26, 1997. Bridget lay in her hospital bed, eyes shut, sailing on a morphine surf. Every half hour or so, her breathing becomes labored and her limbs move...almost writhe. The nurse allows more morphine through one of the tubes: the I.V., and she's off again. I wish I could be there with her... A short time ago, I'd asked the doc in charge, "Once things are...turned off, how long will it be till..." "It takes about twenty minutes. Sometimes less, rarely more." The time has come. Tubes are removed (the most unsettling to watch is the one from her throat). Wires, however, remain attached. Ten minutes pass. Writhing and a low moan starts. A short while in, the nurse apparently feels this is not quite her exit time yet. She gives Bridget a direct morphine injection. Twenty minutes later, harsh breathing, anguished limbs moving, the nurse does the morphine trick again. And then again. It's been nearly an hour since life support has been removed. "She's not ready to go," the nurse says, her eyes locked on mine. "She needs to say goodbye." Her gaze hardens. "To her daughters." We'd thought maybe it wouldn't be a great idea to have the girls watch this particular stage of things. We were wrong. "Bring them in," I say. Upon entering, they both say, "Hi, Mommy," and something amazing happens. Bridget's eyes start to flutter, her lips move, and she even seems to be trying to sit up. Kayla and Dylana do their best to hug their mother, hold her hands, and say, I love you, over and over. Silently, Mommy does the same. The far wall of this hospital room is glass. It had been gray and grim outside...but right then the clouds dissipated and sunshine flooded the room. I sat stunned. I turned gradually, looked behind me for the cameras, the director, the film crew... This had to be a movie, not reality, and if that was so, then Bridget wouldn't really be dying... But she was and she did. She lay back and her heart stopped. And the clouds came back. To be continued... |
|
| Author: | ttzuma [ Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
...
|
|
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:25 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
Bridget Allen Lowry Godfrey died 14 years ago today. I still miss her. Our older daughter, Kayla, is about to turn 21, while Dylana recently turned seventeen. Both are happy, healthy, and very bright. Their mother would be immensely proud of them. |
|
| Author: | Nanci [ Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
I'm so sorry for your loss Darren. Thank you for sharing this with us. |
|
| Author: | Jazminsdaddy [ Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
Yes, thank you for sharing. It brought tears to my eyes. |
|
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
Thank you all for reading it. I apologize for any syntax errors above. Each section was rushed (something I hate to do) and posted with little or no editing. I'm sorry as well for the lack of detail. Each time I've attempted to write of my wife's passing, my mind takes hold of only the barest facts, and sprints through them. The setting, for instance. Bridget was diagnosed in Idaho, but most of the rest of what's described above took place on the big island of Hawaii. Her mother lived (and still lives) there, you see. My wife and daughters went there in mid-December and I followed along after wrapping up a job in California. The hospital was (and probably still is) in Kamuela. Shaped a bit like the Pentagon and a bit like a doughnut, its center held a tropical garden. When the gray mist parted and let the sunshine in through that glass wall, it was glowing palm fronds and an array of colorful flora that had me breathless and wondering if I was in a movie. And then there's the aftermath... ...where a young woman, apparently turned on by grieving widowers, made a not-so-subtle pass at me, not 20 minutes after I'd delivered the eulogy... ...and the scattering... Bridget had been cremated (as was her wish) and we spread her ashes across a hillside overlooking the Pacific. A darkly comic moment occured then...one that fans of The Big Lebowski might be familiar with. Followed by a gut-wrenching moment later on, in the shower. Fourteen years have passed, but Christ is it hard to deal with at times. |
|
| Author: | ttzuma [ Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
All these years later and a piece of you is still missing, I can only imagine how bad a loss like this must feel. Thank you for sharing with us Darren. |
|
| Author: | Darren O. Godfrey [ Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Christmas Horror Stories |
Thank you all. |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|