In September of 2007 all of our decisions changed. On September 7th we found out that one of our good buddies, Bryan Scripsick, was killed in Iraq. This was the first person that we knew personally to die over there, it tore us up. So we drove 22 hours straight to get to his funeral in Pauls Valley, OK. During the drive I was very sleepy and not feeling well, but I was mourning the loss of a great friend so that would explain everything, right?! After the funeral we spent some time with Bryan's family and our friends which helped us all. On the way back we stopped in New Mexico and spent some down time with Jimmy's Aunt and Uncle, it was a great time of healing. When we got back I went back to work, however I was still exhausted and just not feeling well. On Saturday, September 22nd I was at work and talking to my boss in my office. She was talking and I fell asleep! I know, great way to impress the boss and secure your job right?! Well we decided that I should go home. When I got home I went to my neighbor's house and she convinced me to do a pregnancy test. I "knew" that it was going to come back negative so I really didn't want to do it, but I went home, grabbed just the test from our master bathroom, walked across the apartment to the guest bath and peed on the darn stick.
Now our apartment was a two bedroom, two bath apartment with the living room, kitchen, and eating area in between the bedrooms. Jimmy was on the couch in the living room watching his Wolverines beat Penn State while I was in the guest bathroom taking the test (which I told him nothing about!). Done peeing and a line shows up across the test (great told you I wasn't pregnant), the second line shows up in the second pane to tell you that the test is working, (yep still not pregnant), washed my hands, a second line shows up on the first pane, now there is a plus sign (WAIT....WHAT!!!! A PLUS SIGN! NO WAY!!! (heart is racing) I must have read the box wrong, I have to double check). I ran across the apartment into our bathroom and re-read the instructions three times. "If a plus sign appears, even a faint one, you're pregnant." (Okay, I have to check the test again, it hasn't been the full three minutes, I have to double check) I ran back across the apartment, by now Jimmy is wondering what I'm doing. I looked at the test, there is a bold plus sign (NO FREAKING WAY!!!!). I ran out to the living room, jumping up and down, crying, I yelled to Jimmy, "WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!"
Okay so have you seen The Notebook? Remember when he picks up the girl and kisses her and they twirl around, that's what the Morris' living room looked like, minus the rain. We cried and laughed and hugged and kissed. It was great. A few days later we decided that we would not re-enlist and that we would move back to Indiana.
That's how we ended up here. In November we moved back and then it felt like our whole lives fell apart. Our house was not ready for our arrival, we got in a huge fight with Jimmy's Mom, the family was split. Then just after the New Year we made up, we were starting to reconnect as a family until that terrible day. Saturday, January 19, 2008 our world came crashing down. I kidnapped Jimmy for the weekend, just because we needed at least one last weekend of just us before Lindsay came. I took him up north to his Grandma's house and then to the Notre Dame vs. Michigan hockey game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Saturday. We started driving to the game and I called Jourdan to see how the day was going for her, see it was Snowball that night and Jourdan was going, so she should have been getting ready. She didn't answer her phone. Okay Jourdan is never without her phone, if you need to get a hold of her just call her cell, she always has it. So I thought something was wrong when she didn't answer, but Jimmy said she was probably just getting her hair done, to not worry about it. We enjoyed the game, ND lost :(, and went out to the car. It was around 11pm, maybe a little before I can't remember for sure. I had 9 missed calls on my phone from Jimmy's Dad. Jimmy had a few missed calls too, but from a couple of people. Jimmy called his Dad and then started sobbing and had outbursts of pain. I took the phone from Jimmy and learned what happened.
Mary, Jourdan, and Jourdan's friend Kara were on their way back up to South Bend from Indianapolis and were hit head-on. Mary died instantly, Jourdan and Kara were airlifted to the Fort Wayne hospital in critical condition. I had to get my husband to Fort Wayne as soon as possible so he could see his sister. So I drove 5 hours straight down to Fort Wayne through the middle of the night. We made it just fine.
Well we are still working on getting over/through that. On May 25th I gave birth to our first daughter. She came in at 8 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches long, she was born at 3:03pm. Her name is Lindsay Abigail Morris. She is a joy!
