The Essence of Kori

The following story was voted "Our Family's Most Favorite Kori Story"

The year was 1981.  Kori was 7 and I, Kaci had just turned 10.  

The Summer days in Corona, California were hot and long.  And Kori and I got the brilliant idea to ride our bikes down to Thrify Drug Store to get ice cream.  You could get a single scoop for 15 cents and a double scoop for a quarter.  We had a thriving business selling golf balls on the 15th Tee at the local golf course that very nearly butted up to our backyard.   And so we had earned "a ton" of money (which was probably really only $5.00 each. ) 

Mom, for some unknown reason agreed to let us go.  The same mom who NEVER let us out of her sight for more than 10 minutes.  To this day, I cannot believe she let us do this.  She must have been out of her mind.  And was most likely having one of those "mom" days where you go against your better judgements and make unwise decisions at the cost of maybe getting 20 minutes of peace and quiet.  I will guess the conversation went something like this

Mom  (Her head in the oven scrubbing it clean.  Her back to us.  Listening to the words but not hearing me at all)  

Kori  (hiding around the corner)

Kaci:  Mom can me and Kori ride our bikes to Thrify's?

Mom:  No

Kaci:  Please, we have money

Mom:  No

Kaci:  Please

Mom: No

Kaci: Please

Mom:  No

Kaci:  ..................... Please

Mom:  Oh my gosh, Kaci....  you are going to drive me to drink.  I don't care where you go, just go somewhere else and do it there.

Success!

And we hopped on our bikes and headed off on our adventure.

Kori was wearing rainbow dolphin shorts and a matching t-shirt and big tennis shoes.  Her hair, which is naturally curly, was cut in a boy cut and was unruly and it was summer, so naturally was un-styled.  I was wearing green dolphin shorts and a holly hobby T-shirt.  My hair was to my butt, straight as a bone and my bangs were clipped back with flip clips which I had in EVERY color and they ALWAYS matched.   Our bikes were what used to be called "banana bikes"  or "girl bikes".  I had a pink glittery seat and I had plastic strings coming off of the handle bars.  Yep, I was 10.  And SO cool.  

The journey to the store from our house was all down hill.  We sailed at a top speed of 10 miles an hour.  The wind, throwing our hair back.  And I rode along with my legs stretched out to the sides.  Kori, who was more daring than me, took her hands off the handle bars and put them on her hips.  So unsafe and dangerous.  "She is just like a boy"  I thought.  

We made it to Thrifty in record time.  No injuries.  No troubles.  Just two girls, without a care in the world.  So old.  Spending OUR OWN money on some delicious mint and chip ice cream.  We sat on the curb outside.  We could feel the sun on our faces.  This was the single greatest day of our lives so far.  

We could hardly think of going home, but there was only so much a girl could do at a drug store and besides, it was blistering hot.  So we jumped back on our bikes and headed for home.  

ONLY.......

The trip home was....  you guessed it......  all uphill

And did I mention, it was blistering hot.

And our dolphin shorts were so short and our inner thighs were starting to chafe.  

Why did the trip here only take 10 minutes, but the trip home was taking nearly a lifetime?  It was like our wheels were spinning but we weren't making any progress.  Surely mom was missing us.  Why wasn't she coming to get us?  Didn't she care about us at all?  

We were darling daughters.  Where was she?  Surely she noticed our absence.  We'd been gone for what seemed like days.

What were we going to do?  I had to think of something fast.  I was the older sister.  I was a fourth grader for crying out loud.  And then....  it came to me.  The single greatest idea that I had thought of in weeks.

WE COULD CUT THROUGH THE GOLF COURSE

This was brilliant.  It would take hours off of our commute.  The golf course was grassy.  It didn't seem like the hills were as steep on the golf course.  It was lined with shady trees.  It would put us right in our backyard eventually.

Kori agreed.  Oh my gosh, I was so amazing.  This was such a fabulous idea.

We were cruising along at breathtaking speed.  And up in the distance I caught out of the corner of my eye, a man.  He was wearing khaki pants and a navy blue polo shirt and he was walking toward us very fast and he was walking the way my dad walked when he was mad at us.  And the man was carrying a golf club and he started waving it around like a crazy person.  And he was yelling something, but we couldn't tell what he was saying.

I looked behind me to see who in the world he was yelling at.  Surely, he wasn't yelling at US.  What were we doing?  NOTHING!!  We were just two little, innocent, children, simply trying to get to our home.

But, much to our dismay, it quickly became apparent that he WAS yelling at us.   And not only that, he was screaming unpleasant words.   Oh. My. Such. Naughty. Words.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, KORI"  I screamed and we started pedaling faster than our little legs could take us.  And it started to become even more evident that this man was coming to KILL US!!  HE WAS GOING TO KILL US, I TELL YOU!!

So, I got the second best idea that I had thought of that day.  I would jump off of my bike and run like a banshee and go get our mom.   She would protect us.  She would save us from this man.

I informed Kori of my plan, as I was on a dead run and looking and yelling back over my shoulder.  I could see my ditched bike back there and my confused sister as well, but I had to save us.....   I was Lassie.  And I had to "get Timmy out of the well."

I burst into the house....  I couldn't breathe and I was yelling at the top of my lungs....

"They've got Kori!!   The men are going to kill Kori"

My mom was instantly HYSTERICAL.  She didn't have the first clue what I was talking about and she was yelling at me as she was running behind me....  what? where? when? why? How?  not knowing where we were going.....  just blindly following.

And there was Kori.

About 1/4 of a mile back on the golf course.

Pushing her bike a yard, laying it down, running back, picking up my bike, pushing it a yard past her bike,  laying mine down, going back to get hers,  pushing it a yard past mine,  etc,  etc,  etc.  Leap frogging our bikes.  Gently laying them down,  treating my bike with the same care as her own.  Not giving any heed to the danger she may (or may not) be in.  Diligently completing the task, with precise precision to the very best of her 7 year old abilities.

And my poor mom who had been pushed to the breaking point to say the least
FLIPPED HER TRASH OUT
And it probably took every ounce of self control in her entire body not to beat me

"How could you do this to her?"  She screamed
"You just left her"
"What is wrong with you?"

And it hadn't occurred to me until this moment that I wasn't the saver of the day....  I was, in fact, the most horrible person in the world.

Needless to say, we didn't die that day.  No one killed us.  But, we NEVER went on the golf course again.

This is the epitome and the essence of Kori.  She has always thought of other people before herself.  She has always considered every one else and put aside her own fears and desires to make sure everyone else is being taken care of.  She is the most selfless person I know.



I think this picture is worth a thousand words.

The progress in her face is so gigantic.  The swelling is almost gone.  Her smile is more symmetrical.  And the light in her eyes is back.  This is Kori.   I can see Kori in this picture.  Someone cleaned her up and Binu Braided her hair, although I am not sure who did it.   Her therapy is going really well.  She doesn't like the speech therapy much but the occupational and physical parts she enjoys.  Today the physical therapist asked her if she wanted to go 4 laps or 5?  And she said "I'll go as many as you want me to go".  She has a wonderful attitude.

Blow this one up and look at her cute face

Russ gets to go back to Houston Friday night, just for the weekend and then.....  and this is the best news..... he will go back and get her and bring her home on the 26th.

My dad says she is very much like herself again.
When he asked her how her therapy was today she said OT is good, PT is alright but the other stuff is stupid.  She said "even a person who hadn't had a stroke would have screwed that stuff up!"

Dr. Rao is coordinating with Dr. Fox here in St. George and they are arranging her rehab here and Dr. Rao is getting her into Huntsman up North for her treatments.  Her arm still needs a ton of work and he said that her inability to draw clocks and put things in order (which is the "stupid other stuff" she talked about) are all a part of the brain functions of the area they operated on and will start getting better with time.  The ST Tests  (again.... the stupid other stuff) are specifically designed to that area of cognition.

She is so sweet.
I can't wait to see her.
Today our prayers are that the 26th will continue to be her release date!!