Chapter 5
It was a month later that I went to a second concert called "Orlando Bands Together," a charity concert that was thought of and hosted by the Backstreet Boys. And getting there at 3a.m. payed off for the 3 of us nicely. We were in the front row center stage. At this concert I was lucky enough to be able to reach over the baracade and hand a single red rose to Howie, who took it blew me a kiss and winked at me." I attended 3 more concerts in the summer, giving my total love and support to the group wherever they went.
Things at home however were not going well. At one point we had managed to get my father into remission and he seemed to be doing ok. But then, on the weekend of the fourth of July, tragedy again struck my family. I had been staying with my aunt, uncle and twin cousins who were visiting us here in Florida. They had a condo in Lake Buena Vista about 10 minutes from Disney World. I was awakened at 5a.m. that morning by my aunt and uncle saying that they had just gotten a phone call from my mom telling me to get to Orlando Regional Medical Center right away. My younger brother Eric had been a car accident and had to be air lifted to O.R.M.C. My uncle drove me there and I found both my parents sitting in a waiting room, crying. I the doctors explained everything to me since my parents could barely talk. Apparently Eric had been jolted out the passenger window of a car when the driver had hit the curb on the side of the street. Since he wasn't wearing a seat belt, the impact of the car made him fly out the window and he landed about 50 feet away, breaking his neck in the process. (Author's note: I won't discuss that night any further, it's too sad for me to think about in detail.)
Eric ended up in a rehabilitation center, and then came home in the middle of September. But the whole situation had exhausted my already sick father. After the accident, his remission ended and hell on earth was born. I spent more then a few nights at the hospital sleeping in a chair next to his bedside. The time for my 19th birthday was slowly approaching, along with the terrible memories of the events that had come forth this last year. On the second week in October, Melissa called me on the phone and was really hyper.
"Melissa calm down, what's going on?" She took a few deep breaths before speaking
"The Backstreet Boys are having two concerts here in December. One in Tampa on the 30th and one in Orlando on the 31st."
"Where are they gonna play in Tampa?"
"Some place called the Ice Palace Arena."
"Well, you know my dad, ever since Eric got in the accident he has been real funny about letting me drive long distances. But we could go to the one in Orlando. When do the tickets go on sale?"
"You'll never guess!"
"So, tell me. When?"
"Your birthday, October 17th."
"Oh my gosh, that is so cool. We have to camp out that night so we can be first in line to get good seats."
"Of course."
"I'll come and pick you up after work that day and we'll go straight to Peaches (that's a music store that also has a ticket master) I have to work until 3a.m. so you can sleep until then,"
"Cool, sounds like a plan."
My father insisted on buying me the tickets for my birthday. And our plan worked great, we got floor seats for the Orlando show. But even better was this. One day I was on the phone with Melissa and we were talking about the concert in Tampa, my dad over heard the conversation and came to my room when I got off the phone.
"Kim, there's another concert."
"Yeah, on the 30th in Tampa."
"Well, why aren't you going?"
"I didn't think you would let me cause of how far away it is from here."
"If you can find some tickets with seats that are good, I'll pay for them and you can go with your friends."
"Are you serious?"
"I trust you."
"Well then can me and my friends stay the night in a hotel in Tampa and come back the next morning. That way I won't have to drive home for 2 hours in the middle of the night after the show." He thought for a second, I knew I was pressing my luck.
"I guess that would be ok, as long as you call us with the number to the hotel and keep your cell phone on at all times."
"It's a deal, thanks dad." I gave him a big hug and then called Melissa back to tell her the news.
We got some pretty good tickets from my friend Sara, who I had met at the House of Blues. She and I talked on the net and I sent her the money for our tickets. The tickets arrived at my house 3 days later. My father and I even got on the net together and pulled up the layout of the arena's so he could see exactly where we were sitting and to pick out the best ways for me to go in.
But all at once my excitement was put on hold. My father was rushed to the hospital a few days after my birthday. The doctors all agreed then that my father had put up one hell of a fight against this disease, but there was nothing more they could do for him. My mother refused to let him die in a hospital, so he was brought home. His ability to speak or see was impaired and he lost all muscle control in his body. I spent countless hours with him, watching his every breath.
On October 31st I came home from show at the Radisson Hotel and found a nurse in my house and my mother crying
"Mom, what happened?"
"Your father's pulse is so weak that they can't find it. He's still breathing, but they say that he won't last the night." I was ready to cry but I didn't. I went into his room and stayed with him until my work called and said they needed me to come in. I reluctantly did as I was asked, and went in until about 2a.m. As soon as I walked in the door I went to my mom and dad's room.
"Mom." I said in a whisper. She woke up.
"Yeah."
"How is he?"
"He's still with us." I let her go back to sleep as I went to my room to get ready for bed. I put my pajama's on and watched one of my Backstreet Boys tapes as I brushed my hair. Just as I was about to get into bed my mom came through my door and looked at me questioningly.
"I'm not sure." she said softly. I knew what she was talking about, so I went passed her into the master bedroom. I sat down next to my dad. As I did, I noticed an unusual quietness in the room that hadn't been there for a year. I watched him for a few seconds, before putting my head down over his heart. Tears filled my eyes. He was gone.
