Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Happy Birthday, Mom

We interrupt Kat's regularly scheduled blog post for a special guest edition. We're your hosts, Chelsea, Colin, and Brianna (better known as Kat's Kids) and we're here to celebrate a very special occasion...


Kat’s  birthday!!!!


Long before ChatGPT, there was KatGPT.


For as long as we can remember, if we didn't know how to do something, there was only one solution.


ASK MOM.


Morning, noon or night. She was always at your service. However vague or specific the prompt, she understood and replied without delay. 


Let's search the KatGPT archives, shall we?  


                                ....


Brianna: KatGPT, what theme should I pick for my upcoming birthday party? I need to have an awesome homemade cake too! 

  • KatGPT: Wishy, your birthday is six months away!  But I've been thinking about it too. What about a Survivor theme? Or murder mystery? Or drive-in-movie? I have a few cake ideas in mind already!

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                                ....



Chelsea: KatGPT, I want to make my boyfriend Austin, dinner for the first time! How do I make salmon?  What are capers?

  • KatGPT: Capers are those little green things that come in a jar... first preheat the oven to 400… DadGPT would like to know when we will meet him? 

                          

                                ....


Colin: KatGPT, I need help with my art history paper. It’s due tomorrow. Actually, it’s due in thirteen minutes. It’s 11:47 p.m. I haven’t started. 

  • KatGPT: Of course it is. What's it about?


                                ....


Brianna: KatGPT, I’m not sure where I want to go to college. I feel like I’d be happy in a city but also in a small college town. Or maybe a big state school? Or small liberal arts could be nice too?

  • KatGPT: How about we take a road trip along the east coast. Just you and me, Thelma and Louise style. We can see it all and help you decide what you like best! 

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Colin: KatGPT, where can I find cheap things for my college apartment?

  • KatGPT: Kat's Basement. I've got great deals. I knew there was a reason I never threw anything away.


                                ....


Chelsea: KatGPT, what size kitchen island should we have in our new kitchen? 

  • KatGPT: 9' x 5'. I just went to Staples for graph paper. Let me draw it to scale.

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                                ....


Brianna: KatGPT, Christian and I offered to host Friendsgiving this year, but are already so overwhelmed. Where should we start?

  • KatGPT: Don’t worry, it will be fun! These are some of our best memories. How many people? Let me get my “Thanksgiving” folder. I've got 20 years of handwritten notes. 

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                                ....


Chelsea: KatGPT, we are getting married outside in Setember. Is that risky?

  • KatGPT: Well, as Southern folklore has it... if you bury a bottle of bourbon at the site of where you are to be married, it will not rain on your wedding day. But it has to be done exactly one month before the wedding, the bottle must be completely full and buried upside down in order for it to keep the rain away. Do you have bourbon? 

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                                ....


Colin: KatGPT, I wrote a new song! Can you check out the lyrics and tell me what you think? Be honest.

  • KatGPT: Of course! Send them over. I’ll give you constructive criticism, emotional support, and an unnecessarily detailed analysis of why the bridge is the best part.

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                                ....

Chelsea: KatGPT, how do you know if a baby is tired or hungry?

Brianna: KatGPT, how do I know if Griffin is teething?

Chelsea: KatGPT, when should Ansley start crawling? 

Brianna: KatGPT, did I do this as a baby? 

  • KatGPT: Call me. 

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Anywhoooo........


Our questions have changed over the years. From the easy and mundane to the big and heavy.  


But the person we go to hasn't. 


ChatGPT knows a lot, but it doesn't know us like KatGPT. We've had a lot of questions throughout every stage of life, but one thing we've never questioned is your love for us. Unconditional. No WiFi or subscription needed. 


Happy birthday, Mom!!!!


We love you so much!  


Love your big 3,

Chelsea, Colin, Brianna


Ps: We will probably have a few more questions tomorrow....


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Friday, September 25, 2026

PaulA's 5th "Birthday"

Today we are celebrating PaulA's… 

 5th "birthday"…

5th? 


                                                                    since his cardiac arrest.


Every so often you hear a story 

that can only be described as a miracle. 

PaulA’s story was exactly that........ 

 Miracle on 10th Ave S.


It started like any other day.

PaulA was on his usual run 

through our Nashville neighborhood...

just a few blocks from our house when…

 he went down. 

His heart stopped. No pulse.

Cardiac Arrest.


And that’s when 

Jesus took the wheel.

That day he put McKenna, a Vanderbilt Hospital nurse, 

on that exact road.

She was on her way home after having lunch with friends,

when she spotted PaulA on the ground. 


She pulled over, called 911,

and immediately started CPR. 

 She also called her friend Shawna whom she had just left.

Shawna and her husband Jake, 

also nurses at Vanderbilt Hospital,

came running to help.


Jake took over CPR 

until the ambulance arrived. 

The doctors later told us 

PaulA was fortunate to have been given 

the most proficient, efficient,

 life-saving CPR 

he could get.  

Just so happens that Jake was 

an Emergency Room nurse. 

What are the odds? 




Anywhooo....


Whenever people hear PaulA’s story they ask…

Did he remember feeling faint?
Did he remember feeling pain?
Did he remember falling down?


Did he see the white light?

Did he hear the voice of God?

Did he cross over and then come back?


The answer  is NO 

to all of the above.


PaulA didn’t remember anything the day he went down 

and the days after 

as he was put in a medically induced coma.

But he did remember us…

when he woke up.  


There we were…

gathered around his hospital bed 

as PaulA began to open his eyes. 


It felt like a scene from a dramatic Hallmark movie…

holding our breath as the doctors explained to him...

“PaulA, you have had cardiac arrest 

and you are at Vanderbilt Hospital.

Then checking for a response...

"Can you move your right foot, your left foot?…

Now your right hand, left hand?"


The percentage of people who survive a cardiac arrest 

outside a hospital setting is low…dismal odds. 

90 percent of people don’t make it.


PaulA has been back in full swing…



back to himself...

strong and fit…

and still our rock.  

At high tide we swim out to a massive rock 

we call "Flat Rock." 




For our family, 

PaulA is our literally our own Flat Rock.. 

our sanctuary…

always there with his love and support and 

to raise us up. 


These past 5 years have been an incredible gift.

PaulA was graciously given 

the gift of life 

and we were given 

the gift of PaulA. 


The trio of compassionate earthly angels ,

McKenna, Jake and Shawna

who God put in his life 

to save PaulA 

saved us too. 

There are no words to express 

the extent of 

deep gratitude and feelings...

we have for them.


And we give enormous thanks to the 

EMT's, 

the Emergency Room staff and 

the dedicated Vandy doctors and nurses whose 

care, knowledge and expertise 

change people's lives.






5 years ago we celebrated our 40th anniversary 

in a Vanderbilt Hospital room...

which is not the most romantic place for an anniversary

but  

we were happy to be holding hands.




🎵 So Happy Together. 🎶



Happy 5th "birthday" to PaulA


and cheers 

to our 45th Anniversary.


From 19 year old college co-eds to 
the proud grandparents we are today, 
 it's been 45 years of 
love, happiness and what dreams are made of.💖






Friday, June 5, 2026

Happy Birthday Brianna, "I knew You "

 Happy Birthday to our 

beautiful, beloved, bright, and breezy 

daughter, Brianna…







wife and mama with baby #2 due soon...





youngest of the Big 3….




and 


friend to so many.






I always remember the gorgeous early summer day 

we brought our baby bundle home 

from the hospital…



…as it turns out…


to a house of German measles…



measles, messes, and mayhem…Oh my.


We all lived through it... 

but we did catch

  a serious case of LOVE 

for Brianna.


There is a passage from the Bible…

in Jeremiah 1:5 where God says to Jeremiah…

”I knew you 

before you were born” 

which made me think about when 

I was pregnant with Brianna.  


Even before Brianna was in my arms, 

I already knew her…

whether it was our physical connection… 

when she would take an evening roll around the womb…

or

our little game of  “knock, knock…who’s there?”

 when I would tap her foot and 

she would tap back.  

She was letting me know she was doing fine and 

feeling cozy in her womb without a view…


…it was her way of saying  

“mama, I can’t wait to be with you and complete the fam"


or then again….


…her way of saying

“Mama, leave me alone…I’m sleeping in here.”


But along with the physical connection…

it was the emotional connection that I felt so deeply…

felt it to my core. 

I already knew how much I loved her.  

So when I first laid eyes on this sweet cherub…

it was…

”so happy you are here…Come to mama."


The love I had carried for months 

now had a face, 

a cry and 

tiny little fingers I could hold.


Bri had me at “whaaa.” 



Anywhoooo…..



Brianna is more than ready and organized for baby #2…

and when it comes to being a mom…

Brianna has her son, Griffin, to thank. 



Not only did he make her a mom…

he has provided her with ample training material. 


Plus Brianna was already mastering “mom skills” 

at a very early age…like….


"How to get yourself dressed and 

ready to tackle the day 

with a “bring it on” attitude"...



...while striking a balance. 




How to apply makeup on the go. 




How to smear peanut butter and jelly 

for the countless sandwiches to come.



And 


How to catch the ever important  zzz’s 

whenever and wherever you can.







Happy Birthday sweet Brianna.

Enjoy your day

and feel the love we all have for you. 


Exciting  times are ahead with your family

with the birth of your new baby….

and the most special 

“love at first sight” moment …

just as it was

 for us…

35 years ago.



 

Happy Birthday Sweet Wish