Imagine my surprise when I walked into a little store in Branson, Missouri today and seen that Independence Pass sign…🥹😭

🏕We had just moved out to Colorado for the summer & it was my 1st weekend off. All we knew was that we were heading out of Aspen over Independence Pass for a weekend road trip. Wherever the road took us was where we landed. I remember that 1st step-off in the mountains to get out of the Jeep & explore… we found that STUNNING bridge right in the middle of those pines. I could smell them - that PINENE TERPENE came alive …I could feel them. Wow, I could FEEL again. I could hear the rush of the water below… I could HEAR again…beautiful sounds. There were no alarms, no IV pumps beeping, no suction, no code blues being called overhead, no screams, no phones ringing, no monitors going off, no loud bursts of air from the bipaps or ventilators, no last gasps of air, no doors slamming behind us only to be locked in for 12 hours, no nurses yelling for help, no Dr’s barking out orders, no voices of urgency, no code carts rushing down the halls, no zip of the body bags, no chaos & no fear in my head… just calm.

✨The top of the pass felt so majestic & mighty. It was quiet…and that’s where I began to feel alive again. 😌

I still think of every patient the best I can remember with continued prayers for their families. No amount of preparation, schooling, or experience could have prepared us for the hell we fought through for their loved ones but I hope they know we did the best we could with all we had. 😔

🫶🏼 So of course that sign will be hanging in our new home with so much gratitude for a healing heart & broken-open soul. 😌💚🙏🏼

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