Episode One- Part One

Welcome back! Last time I set the stage for what I’ll be doing in this blog but I failed to leave one important detail out!

We all have that one friend who is a lot like Moaning Myrtle (if you’ve seen/read Harry Potter you know the character I’m talking about). Myrtle, as her name suggests, moans A LOT. Every time we hang out with our special Myrtle-esque friend, it seems all she wants to do is just complain about how horrible her life is. Then you say your goodbyes and you’re like “Well, this was fun. (NOT)” and go your separate ways feeling less than refreshed.

I bring this up to remind you all (and myself) that the purpose of this blog is to be informative. If I start to sound like Moaning Myrtle, tell me to lighten up and go see Hagrid and his happy lil magical creatures. You didn’t think I would just stop at one Harry Potter reference, now did you? 😉

Anyhow, with that, let’s proceed to the oh so eventful night of August 31, 2016 when I had my first seizure at the age of 25. But before we get there, we need to go back to November 2015 where the fun part begins!

Matt was gone to Colorado to finish his sister’s basement for 9 days, so I headed up to Morrill for the weekend to see my sister, her hubby and little Emelia. One of my favorite childhood bands, the Dixie Chicks had just announced a tour so I called my bestie Chelsea to snag some tickets. “Where should we go?! We could make a weekend of it!” I asked her on the phone, so giddy with excitement. “Vegas?! Denver?! EEEEKKKK!!” We were a little excited. Anyway, we ultimately decided on Kansas City, because of scheduling and cost, if I remember right.

I call Matt, my dedicated concert buddy and beau, not sure if he’d want to attend such a concert with two very weirdly excited women but wanted to offer anyway. Here’s roughly how the conversation went:

Me: “MATT! Guess what?! The Dixie Chicks are coming to KC in August and Chelsea and I are going to get tickets! Do you want to come to? We can get another one so you can bring a guy friend.”

Matt: “That sounds like a terrible idea.”

Me: “WHAT. It’s the DIXIE CHICKS.”

Matt: “I just don’t think you should buy tickets so soon.”

Me: “No way, man. It’s the DIXIE CHICKS! I’m not taking the chance on missing out.”

Matt (Knowing I’m a Sents and we Sents’s are frugal people): “They might go on sale later”

Me: “What? That.. like… never happens”

Matt: <crickets>

Me (starting to get suspicious): “Uh, what’s going on?”

Matt: “Just don’t buy the tickets”

Me: “…..I don’t get it…..” <lightbulb> “Did you already buy TICKETS?!”

Matt: “…Maybee…” <pause> “It was supposed to be your stinkin Christmas present!”

Me: <gasp, giggle, OMG’s, etc.>

Ok, you get the picture. I mean, the blog is called this EPI(lepti)C life, so I have to include the Epic parts too for both your and my sanity, right?! Yeah, it’s a pretty great story. I did, however, get my payback a year or so later when I’d already bought him concert tickets for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Omaha and he called to ask if I’d want to go see them in KC.

Fastforward to August 30, 2016---Concert night!

Matt didn’t find a man friend to go with us (I can’t imagine why) but Chelsea’s handsome friend Grantpa (and soon-to-be boyfriend, by the way,—I was SURE of it) agreed to come! I’m a huge fan of Grantpa and it’s my mission for the night to get him and Chelsea to date- so much so that I recruit Matt to help me set them up. Therefore, Matt was (and will now be- in this blog post) referred to as ‘Agent Moon’ and I was referred to as ‘Captain’ for the remainder of 30 August 2016 (so official, I know).

We meet at Power and Light before the show with our friend gal pal Ellen for dinner. We were all good pals in college and we have a grand time catching up. 

Dinner at Power & Light before the concert

Long story short, the Dixie Chicks were freaking amazing in concert. If you like them at all and ever get the chance to see them live, you must go. Rocking out to ‘Goodbye Earl’, humming along with the sweet swing of ‘Truth No. 2’ and experiencing the power of ‘I hope’ in person is just too profound to put into words. Not to mention seeing all the crazed fans with their custom-made shirts! (And you thought Chelsea and I were crazy!)

Agent Moon was successful at supplying his Captain with beer throughout the night; and encouraged Grantpa to purchase beer for Chelsea as well. From that aspect, our mission was successful. However, overall the mission did not succeed; as Chelsea and Grantpa did not launch a relationship. I know you all are incredibly disappointed. 

All giddy with joy after the concert!

 I look back on these photos and relive these memories with bittersweet sadness, because I only know what's coming. This was my last night of "normal" life until 24 hours later I'd be transported to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka via ambulance after having a grand mal seizure. 

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We stayed the night in KC and headed back to reality the next morning. It was now a Wednesday, after all and I had a board meeting to prepare for.

This board meeting was the first meeting after county fair and there wasn’t anything real special on the agenda. We did, however, have a visitor coming. This visitor was a 4-H parent who felt he/his family had been treated unfairly at the fair (no pun intended). I won’t go into specifics because it’s a very long story and it’s not necessarily relevant here. Let’s just say there was a lot of conflict involved and it was a very stressful situation for all involved.

So the meeting starts, our usual business is conducted and then we wait a few minutes for our guest to arrive. Did I mention this was a stressful situation? Yeah, I’m nervous. The board members have talked with us (my coworker and me) enough to give us the impression that they’ve got our backs but I’m still pretty nervous. The last time I saw this man he was pretty stinkin pissed off (pardon the language). So I’m sitting, a little shaky, but just the usual jitters before a test , interview or whatever.

 

Our guest arrives and shares his story; and then starts speaking back and forth with our executive board members. Fortunately for my coworker and me, our board members were very supportive of us throughout this process. Did I mention it was a little stressful? I’m starting to get a bit of a funny feeling. Nausea, perhaps? That’s not quite it. It’s like my vision is getting a little hazy, and I’m just in a cloud. Maybe I’m just getting a little warm and I need to get some water. I contemplate excusing myself for a minute but the room is pretty crowded and I don’t want to cause a disturbance when the board member next to me is making some *really! Good! Comments! Clarissa! And! Darl! Were! Right! You! Broke! the! RULES!*  (sorry for that, I just couldn't resist). Plus, I was fiiiine!

The next thing I knew, everything was black.