This is my first official backstory
And I’m writing it as I’m in Park City, a few days after releasing my anchor Aligned story.
The goal of the backstories is to share things that need and want to be said, but wouldn’t have fit in the opening story.
When choosing who and what to include in the first story, I obviously left a lot out because it wasn’t appropriate or necessary to share yet.
But being back in Park City and bumping into people from my past both intentionally and randomly, it feels like old pieces of me are up for review, acknowledging and therein finally accepting and integrating. That also means the backstories are ready to begin, and I’m here for it.
So I’d like to introduce you to the “Hbomb,” aka the all over the place fresh out of trauma, newly healing version of myself who got released back into the wild west of Park City once everyone thought I was okay after my brain injury. This was around the time of Fall of 1994.
The nickname Hbomb came from Craig, who became my brother-in-law in July 1997, but who has also been my attorney since the dawn of Align time and before. That means Craig has witnessed me navigate many confusing versions of myself, and I’ve been blessed with his legal support through a lot of it, though it has sometimes come with the occasional eye roll or him giving me a well deserved side eye look. I know a lot of my behavior and decisions have been hard to understand and accept over the years, even for me, so I can only imagine what it’s like seeing me from the outside looking in.
But let’s back up.
Craig and my sister Katherine met the year after my accident, when my sister took a semester off from college so that she could live in Park City and be close to our family. We were doing our best to heal separately but together after the accident as a family, so being closer physically made sense. My sister didn’t know a lot of people in Park City, since she didn’t go to high school there like I did, but that didn’t stop her from making Park City her home. She is a people magnet and is also so open-hearted, generous and interested in connecting, that she had a group of friends in Park City after what felt like a few minutes of her time living there.
My sister lived in the red house, my little healing nook, and she helped make the space into what felt like a clubhouse for cool and interesting people around town who were all older than me. And I loved it.
I’d find myself hanging out on the back porch of the red house with Craig and some of his ski town male buddies, and I’d be explaining some parts of my life and/or decision making processes, and they’d laugh with me, though it probably was more like they were laughing at me…I’m not sure. But somehow I earned the nickname Hbomb, care of Craig and it stuck. I’d love to hear his explanation of the origins of my nickname, so perhaps I’ll ask.
But what I’m writing about here is the unexpected healing container that my sister, Craig and her new group of friends gifted me in that time period after my accident. I seldom felt like Katherine’s little sister in high school to her friends, which I always appreciated. They were always very welcoming and inclusive to me and quietly supportive of my search for myself.
I remember being invited by my sister to participate in a game called “Gotcha,” which involved her friend group and some other young adults around Park City. You paid an entry fee, you had to have a water gun and you were given the name and place of work of someone else in the group. The goal was to stealthily track down and shoot the person you were assigned (with your water gun), a game that probably wouldn’t go down well these days. But in 1994-1995 it was SO fun and helped me connect with the older audience I was drawn to, rather than kids my age. When you shoot someone you'd take over the name of who they were trying to shoot, and eventually the winner of it all got some money and there was a party. The game even ended up with me being asked on a sushi date by the guy I snuck up on and shot. It was exhilarating and got me out of my self-imposed world of confusion, so I was incredibly grateful.
My sister and Craig also modeled a healthy relationship for me and I got to witness their sweet love story go from them meeting when Craig worked at Destination Sports ski shop, to them dating, to getting engaged, to their wedding, to them moving to Colorado while Craig went to law school, and then coming back to Park City to start a life and family. They were the epitome of a successful fairy tale love story. And I even got to live with Craig’s little brother after I transferred to University of Colorado at Boulder in 1997, which I appreciated.
When I chose to open Align in 2003 without any business experience, sure there was a fly by the seat of my pants aspect to it, but I also want to share an enormous shout out to Craig, who helped guide me in the legal creation, establishment and growth of Align, as he’d ask and answer questions I’d never considered, set me up for success and even amid the stupid stuff I’ve gotten myself into over the last 25+ years, he did his best to help me legally through it without judging me to my face, or sending me a huge legal bill. I did have a while where I got myself into several legal disagreements with ex boyfriends, and Craig was always there to help me out of the messes I’d accidentally created. Oh Hbomb…
The other day as I was driving through Salt Lake City on my way to have a meeting with Scott, my book coach, I passed by Craig’s office and I flashed back to the many times I’ve sat across from him in his office dealing with different debacles in my Hbomb history. Ugh. To have legal and family support that’s been mostly loving and a great example of what a healthy relationship is, has been priceless.
Something like this is hard to capture in a 1 sentence book acknowledgment, so instead I saved it for the first backstory.
So Craig and Katherine, thank you both for supporting me for so long along my wild Hbomb journey. I imagine it has been hard watching me heal, grow, fumble, fall and get back up as I do my best to navigate my life; but you both have always held me close and I’ve always felt protected by you both, which I’ve always seen, loved and appreciated. But maybe it’s the first time I’ve said it out loud in this way.
I love you both and I hope you know how much I deeply appreciate you, in such different but equal ways. I and Align wouldn’t be where I am without your support, encouragement, guidance, advice and gentle slaps on the wrist when I do stupid shit. Hopefully my poor judgment is behind me.
I’m excited for what’s ahead.
Cheers,
The Hbomb
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