Coincidence? Or The Plan??

I've been meaning to blog about this story for a while, and everything has been so crazy and I usually only have time to post 'happenings' not stories. But... this one came up recently as one 'freaky thing' that happened in my life that took YEARS to unfold before the full 'freakishness' actually came to light.

You all know I have two sisters... Julie who is mentally ill whom I blog about often. Katie is normal as can be except one thing......... she has this sleepwalking issue. Well, medically it's defined as "night terrors". Here is her story, then I'll fill you in on the freaky part.

When Katie was a little girl, she had typical sleepwalking episodes. When she got older, she lived on her own (with various girlfriends sharing apartments) and would wake up with bruises all over her. The full extent of what was happening to her didn't really come to light until she moved in with a boyfriend who lived in the Orlando area. He would tell her that she was up screaming at night, saying someone was chasing her or screaming that bugs were all over her. Katie remembered nothing.

After she broke up with this boyfriend she got her own place; an apartment on the third floor of a complex in Orlando. One night we got a call...... from Orlando's Homicide Police Detectives. Gulp. You can't imagine how the family felt to get this phone call.

Katie had gotten up at night and somehow ran THROUGH her bedroom window, falling 3 stories to the ground. If you could see where she fell - you'd be amazed. There was a big bush just ahead of where she fell, an AC unit to the right and PVC plumbing/piping to the left. Had she fallen in ANY area other than exactly where she fell... she'd have died instantly. To this day, Katie believes Angels guided her to her safe patch of ground below.

When she hit the ground, she was still sleeping.

A man from an apartment below her who was sleeping heard crying and thought he left a TV on. He got up only to find his TV was not on. Nor was the radio. He opened the front door, and there stood Katie, covered head to toe in blood. Still sleeping mind you. He called 911 and the paramedics arrived to pick her up. Katie's first memory after going to bed that night was IN the ambulance. Yes, she was sleeping through the whole ordeal.

Katie suffered massive injuries. One arm had the skin from most of the hand gone. Apparently as she fell through the window she tried to grab the glass. The other arm is the one she fell on and was badly broken. She had damage to a lot more of her body as well, as I'm sure you can imagine. The homicide police did not believe the family in saying that she had these 'night terrors'... they were investigating because they believed she had been pushed out the window. Of course, they later put together all the pieces and realized that she really had this very odd condition.

She tried to live on her own after that... but found it very difficult. One arm broken, the other arm needing multiple surgeries to reattach skin, skin grafts to repair many other kind of things.... she was in really bad shape and had NO hands. You really learn what kind of friends you have when you are in the bathroom and can't do anything, and I do mean a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g -- on your own.

Katie moved in with us for a while while she recuperated. It was stressful for us as well at the time... we tried EVERYTHING to keep her safe. We put alarms on her bedroom door... alarms on the front door.... even tried handcuffing her feet to the bed (at her request). Often times while she lived with us, we'd wake up to the sound of a screaming woman (Katie) who was running all over the house, often times she'd hit the front door and run down the street. We tried, but couldn't 'wake her up out of it'... if a 3 story fall that nearly killed her didn't wake her, no amount of our yelling or shaking was going to do the trick either.

Over the years, Katie has improved. She now sees a doctor for it and takes medication to help.

Okay, one more funny story about it and then promise I'll tell you the freaky part.

Katie fell in love with Tony - a great guy she knew in High School. They were engaged to be married, and Tony's family was from Puerto Rico and knew nothing of her 'sleeping disorder'. Katie hoped it would stay that way. I mean... how do you explain something like that? Anyways......

Katie went with Tony to Puerto Rico with their infant daughter. They were staying in some awesome tents on the beach in beautiful Puerto Rico. Then one night...... it happened.

Katie had gone to bed with the baby in one tent. Tony was up at night playing Dominoes with the other men in the family on the beach. He heard the screams and I'm sure Tony knew what was happening. Katie had an episode and was ripping her way through the tent she was sleeping in. I'm sure there was chaos as Tony's family tried to grasp what might be happening. Katie, sleeping and unaware of which way the door was in the tent, ripped through the wrong side of one tent, then ripped another tent before grabbing the baby. My understanding is that by the time Tony arrived Katie was in a fetal position cradling the baby inside a tent that was torn apart.

Needless to say, Tony's family learned of her disorder first-hand as they witnessed it themselves. Too funny.

So... the freaky part.......

I grew up Catholic. When it came time for confirmation... I forget how old I was but in reading now I see it's generally between the age of 7 and 15.... I had to choose a confirmation name. All students were assigned to pick the name of a Saint whom they wanted to be named after. The church tells you that your patron saint is who you pray for for certain things. If you are struggling in your marriage, you might pray to the patron saint of happy marriages: St. Valentine. If you are a musician you can pray to the patron saint of musicians: St. Cecilia. Often times saints are given multiple things to be patrons over.

Per the Catholic Church: "You choose the name of a saint who inspires you. This symbolizes a new beginning in your faith life and a connection with that saint. This new name would be used after your present middle name and before your family (last) name. Added to your Christian name, it gives you a heavenly patron who you should endeavor (try) to imitate. The name you choose should represent the direction you feel your faith life is taking, or represent a strength or attribute you feel you need." The Catholic Church of course cautioned against taking a name purely for fun - we were instructed to choose wisely.

Of course......... I didn't listen. I picked St. Dymphna. I picked her because her name was COOL and because everyone else was picking normal names when there were TONS of really cool names out there. Who needs St. Mary? St. Luke? St. Elizabeth? I had DYMPHNA! Even as the Bishop was confirming me he took pause to read my Saint's name and gave me a very odd look. A look that kind of said "are you kidding me??" I thought it was cool. Cool and funny.

I found out as an adult what Saint Dymphna represents... and it's not so funny anymore. She is the patron saint of -- sleepwalking, sleepwalkers, mental disorders, mental health caregivers, mentally ill people, mental hospitals and loss of parents.

Can someone tell me it's just a coincidence?? Really???

Back when I picked this Saint I had ABSOLUTELY no idea that Julie was mentally ill nor that Katie was going to be a sleepwalker. No idea that I was going to - in some role or another - end up being a caregiver for both sisters at some point in their lives. That the kids I would have here - raising - would be dealing with a loss of a parent. How many times I would be looking up to the heavens praying for guidance in hundreds of instances throughout my adult life - and NEEDING guidance from the very saint that I picked as a young child - picked as a joke.

I suppose one could say that it's another fine example of God's sense of humor.

I just LOVE God's sense of humor!