Demi
"Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up," I said out loud to my client, who was on the table, as I continued to extend his shoulder outward. He just looked up over at me and rolled his eyes.
"You and your damn, encouraging, fighting references," he said as he shook his head. I let out a soft laugh.
"I can't help it. At one point it was a huge part of my life," I said as I focused on his arm, and started to massage the interior shoulder joint.
"How so?" He looked over at me and asked.
"It's a long story. Maybe I will save it for our next session. We are just about out of time." I said as I patted his shoulder, and walked over, grabbing my pen to write down his next exercise program for the upcoming week. I quickly jotted down a few things, and handed it to him. " I want you to do these exercises twice a day. We really want to make sure we are building that muscle tissue around the shoulder," I said as I walked over and opened up the door.
"Awesome. See you next week, same time?" He asked as he looked over at me, giving me a thumbs up.
I gave him a soft smile, "Yup. Next week, same time. See you later, Todd," I said waving as I watched him leave, and then shut the door.
As soon as the door shut I walked over to my desk, sat down in my chair, and swiveled around towards the computer. I let out a deep sigh, just as my head fell in the palm of my hands. I was exhausted. I sat there remembering the quote that I just told, Todd. I remember the day I first heard it. My dad, who was an MMA fighter, came home after a long day of training, picked me up, under the shoulders, and looked at me. He said, "Demi, every champion was once a contender that refused to give up. I never want you to give up on your dreams. You are my little champion." My dad was always full of encouraging words. I remember when I was little I would always go sit on the sides, while my dad would be hitting the punching bag. I loved watching my dad interact with his gym friends, and enjoy doing what he loved. I remember as a kid, my mother, Dianna, would never actually let me go to the fights to watch. It made me sad, but she always thought that it was inappropriate for children. She was probably right.
As I sat there, sifting through the memories of my father, I found myself missing him terribly. It has been twelve years now, since I stood in front of my fathers grave and said my goodbyes.
I sat there staring at a picture that was on my desk as I was taken back to the memory of my father being lifted down into the grave. A few months after my twelfth birthday, I got the devastating news that my father had passed away. It was a day that I will never forget. I remember it as if it were just yesterday. My dad left for his fight earlier that day. He had a lot of press to do before the big fight, so I didn't get to see much of him. On the days that he was fighting, I would always be asleep by the time he got home. Whenever he finally made it home, after a fight, he would sneak into my room, kiss me on the forehead, and say, "Goodnight, my little fighter." I would wake up with a smile on my face, ask him how his fight was, and then fall back asleep. It was our nightly routine. I remember crawling into bed later that night. My mom tucked me into bed, and told me that my father would be in to say goodnight as soon as he got home. I was so anxious to hear about how his fight went. I always loved hearing about how he sucker punched his opponent, or how everyone in the crowd roared out his fighting name, Cage God.I pulled the covers up over my head, and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, I was abruptly awoken. I was expecting my father to be by my bedside, but instead, it was my mother. She was frantic as tears streamed down her face. "Baby, get up, we have to go," my mom abruptly said as she grabbed my arm and helped me sit up. I looked up at her unsure of what was even occurring. "Demi, come on, we have to go," she said once more as she ran over to grab my shoes and set them down in front of me. I looked up at her as I slipped them on.
"Mom, what's happening? Where is dad?" I asked her worriedly. She just looked up at me with tears in streaming down her face, and then walked out the bedroom door, down the hall. I followed her closely behind. I watched as she grabbed the keys, and our jackets. After we quickly put on our jackets, we ran out to the car. I knew something wasn't right. My mom was very quiet. I kept asking her questions about my dad, but she just stayed quiet. I watched as the car pulled into the hospital parking lot, and I could feel my heart sink deep into my chest. I was very scared. We quickly ran into the hospital, and the nurses took us back to a private waiting room. There, we waited for hours. The doctors continuously came out through the set of double doors, each time, making their way towards us, but were never actually for us. Until finally, one surgeon came out. As soon as he pushed passed the set of double doors, he looked up from the ground, and pulled off his surgeon cap. I could feel my heart beating rapidly inside my chest. He stopped in front of both, my mother and I, and looked up, making eye contact with both of us.
"Your husband," He paused before continuing, "Your husband had what is called a cerebral aneurysm, which occurs in an artery in the brain," He paused and looked down to the ground. I looked up over at my mom with tears in my eyes, and grabbed her hand. I heard the doctor clear his throat. I looked back over at him, and watched as he stood there with his hands on his hips, and his head slightly hanging down. "With this type of aneurysm, surgery is always tricky. When we went in to have a look, and to repair the aneurysm, we noticed that there was rupture, most likely due to the fight. The rupture caused a substantial amount of swelling to the brain. We tried everything we could." He paused and my mother let out a deep sob. I moved closer, and grabbed my mom in a tight embrace. She laid her head on my shoulder, and just held me tight. The doctor continued once more, " I am so sorry to have to say this, but your husband did not make it," he said as he looked at us both once again. He continued to talk to us, but I just tuned him out this time. I sat there, gripping onto my mother, feeling numb. I can remember sitting there thinking this was just a horrible nightmare, and that I would be waking up soon. That my dad would be pulling me out of this, and kissing my forehead, but that never happened, and this was in fact, very real. I remember leaving that hospital empty. My mom and I went home, and grieved the only way we knew how.
I was taken back, out of my thoughts, when I heard the phone ringing in my office. I snapped up, and then picked up the phone. It was a client, confirming their next appointment for next week. Once they verified, I hung up the phone. I leaned back in my computer chair, and looked around at my office. I was so thankful for how for I have come.
Back during the time of our grieving, I can remember how difficult it was for my mother and I. There were days when I did not think I would be okay, or that my mother would be okay, but one day, everything changed. About two years after my dad's passing, my mom met a man, his name was Eddie. I remember at first I was very skeptical about the idea of my mom dating, but I quickly opened up, and saw how much we needed Eddie in our lives. Eddie brought so much happiness and life back into our family. For the first time in a long time, I can remember smiling, and laughing again. In a sense, I could feel my heart beating again. I loved everything about Eddie, his sense of humor, his compassion, and most of all how supportive he was. If there was something we wanted, Eddie did everything in his power to help make it happen. Not only was Eddie slowly starting to become a part of our family, but he also had a son, Wilmer, who was also becoming apart of our family. Wilmer was three years older than me, and lived with his mom most of his life, so we were never really close. With Wilmer mostly living with his mom, he hardly ever came around, but occasionally he would come over to hang out with us. For the most part it was my mom, Eddie, and I who would be spending time together, and having family outings. When I was fourteen, Eddie and my mom finally tied the knot, and I couldn't have been happier. I finally felt like things in my life were whole again.
Looking back, I don't think I would have been able to be where I am today without Eddie in my life. He has helped me so much in life. Not only has he helped pick up the broken pieces of my family, and put them back together, but he has also helped me achieve my dreams. Ever since I was a little girl, it has been my dream to be a physical therapist. I have always wanted to help individuals get back to their full potential, help them heal, and help them overcome their challenges. Eddie helped me achieve this goal. After my father's passing, my mom and I struggled financially. During that time, we were only able to collect one income, and my mom was having difficulty keeping a stable job. Once Eddie came into the picture, we were able to see a new light. Things started transition for us. My mom had more time and leeway to go out and get a better job, which had more availability, and Eddie was able to bring in an additional income for us to live off of. When I was ready to going off to college, Eddie was able to help me pay for it. He told me that wherever I wanted to go, he would pay, and help me go after my dreams. I was able to go to college, and with the support and encouragement of my family, I was able to quickly get through my studies, and graduate with my Bachelors degree in Kinesiology. At this time I was only twenty one. Once I graduated with my Bachelors, I enrolled in an Accelerated Physical Therapy program. Instead of going through the typical three year program, I was able to obtain my degree, and graduated right after my twenty third birthday. Now, it has been a year. I am twenty four years old, and I am working at one of the top physical therapy practices here in Venice, and I owe it all to Eddie. Without him, I would not have had the motivation, courage, or drive to go out and reach my dreams.
I continued to look around at everything with a smile on my face, completely amazed at how far I have come in life. I looked over at the clock and saw that my next appointment would be here any minute. Soon there was a knock on the door. I turned in the direction, and watched as it slowly opened. Cindy, my assistant, popped her head in.
"Hey, Demi, you busy?" she quickly asked me. I looked over at her, smiled, and shook my head. She came further into the room, "This just came in for you. They want you to call and set up a first time consult with him," she said as she handed a new client folder in my direction. I grabbed it, and opened it up.
"Profession: Fighter," I read aloud. I let out a deep sigh, and cocked my head up over towards Cindy.
"Yup, another fighter. That's Venice for you. They make up almost half of our clientele. Gotta love them," she said as she smiled at me and then walked out, shutting the door behind her.
I looked back down at the clients folder and continued to read through it. "Man, he's only a year younger than me," I read to myself. I, again, let out a deep sigh, "Oh, well, Demi to the rescue," I said as I let out a small laugh.