The Price Family: some people's kids...

(read at your own risk.) :)

maybe you've heard the rumors about me getting up and leaving during class a few days ago.

yep, it's true. it happened.

some people probably roll their eyes saying it's overdramatic, but when you go through something as tragic, life shattering, and traumatic as my family did...we have every right.

let me explain the situation.

i am in a foundations capstone class. it is formulated to help students use deductive reasoning, make well thought out decisions, understand the consequences and responsibilities of decisions, and so on and so forth. it is required to graduate. so no, i didn't take this for fun.

up until this week it has been a rather interesting class. we've talked about situations varying from boyfriends with pornography problems, money (the big house vs. the little house), gay & lesbian couples babysitting LDS parents' children, appropriate vs. inappropriate art, LDS farmers raising barley, etc. it's been interesting- that's for sure. and it creates a well divided line in the class- something like this: south vs. north, liberal vs. conservative, city folk vs. country folk, sheltered vs. not sheltered. you really do have to have tough skin, because sometimes what you believe or what your opinion is based on gets bashed by the peep sitting across the room.

at the time, we were studying about art, and i had come to class prepared to talk about the case that we were studying. i had done my assignment, and i was ready to rock and roll. sounds logical right? my teacher then proceeds to tell the class we were going to talk about something that not many people are aware of.

avalanches.

now my teacher is a recreational management teacher. he's pretty active. he is a big skier, and one of his good friends was killed in an avalanche years ago. i wouldn't classify him as a tree hugger. i don't really know what he is, but his passion is in skiing. he's rather aware of avalanches, and he even probed around for a body back in the 70's with avalanche dogs and such.

well, to start off, my teacher pulls up all the deaths that have taken place in the state of wyoming because of avalanches. you can find the website here. he then proceeds to show the list of names. "it's okay," i thought. "you're stronger than this. just make it through." it's a good thing we weren't discussing deaths in montana or mt. jefferson, because then i'd get to look at my brothers name on the projector screen. then my teacher discussed how there are more avalanches now then there used to be because of the many devices we have to get us in places that we shouldn't be. he then pulled up a graph of age, and the most avalanches happen between ages 20-29. people my age. "why is that?" he asks the class, and some smart "butt" boy raises his hand and says, "poor judgement. adrenaline junkie. kind of like 'hey man! watch this!"

strike one.

we then look at the graph showing how there are now more snowmobilers involved rather than skiers and talked about why. my teacher than says, "and generally, skiers are in better shape than the people on snowmachines trying to climb mountains. and now all of you snowmobilers in here are going to hate me for that comment."

darn right i am.

strike two.

let me just throw in that this has nothing to do with the class. this wasn't something we were "supposed" to be talking about. there was no case involved to study. this was my teacher trying to spread "awareness." okay, that's fine. my older brother was killed in an avalanche. spreading awareness is good, but not to people who can't watch their mouth, because i can bet that my brother & anyone he's ever sledded with could do more pull ups and side kicks hanging from a door way than half of the class. don't tell them snowmobilers "lack the ability to stay in shape," because chances are, the opposite is true.

so my blood is a little hot, but i can be very passive.

just tough it out, sister.

then after a very detailed story of snowmobilers getting caught, having a helmet full of snow, and literally getting crushed because of the snow, he decides to show some footage. you know what i see when you're telling the story and then kids are asking questions? my lifeless brother laying on a hospital table, blood in his teeth, throw up on this jacket, a shattered, jello-like chest, and cut up clothes.

and so it goes on.

"sensitive viewers: please be advised."

strike three.

i see one maneuver of a man on skis, and i bolt out of the dark room. sure, i had made it through half the class, but that was 30 minutes too long. within an hour i had sent my teacher an email with two links: an article from the island park news, and my only older brothers obituary. i then kindly explained my situation. i asked that a warning be given for any topics that we discuss. there's been a case on porn-plenty of time to prepare. and if you don't want to do deal with it? skip class. what about raising barley? if you don't want to talk about it- stay home! you know what's coming!

i had no idea avalanches was a topic of discussion.
oh wait...it wasn't.

my brother is not a statistic. he came. he lived. he touched people. he's not just "one more tick to add to the tally." he wasn't foolish. he wasn't stupid. he did what he loved. would we have it any other way? absolutely freaking not! people get killed in car racing- is car racing stupid? people get killed riding bicycles- are bicycles stupid? it's a matter of opinion, i agree, but it comes down to passion. do what you love for crying out loud! you can't speak for people who have died or for their families, but most importantly, you can't point fingers or judge. god has a plan. and that's something i have come to understand the past three years of my life.

if josh was supposed to be here- he would.

if josh had something to accomplish on earth- he would have made it through just fine.

so don't tell me doing what you love is unwise. when it's our time...we will go. otherwise, the lord will intervene. that is what i know.

anyway, the teacher ended up emailing me back apologizing for not talking about our current topic and for being insensitive to the backgrounds of his students.

my name is kayla.

i am a victim of an avalanche.

before you judge anyone who get's on a sled, do some research.

it's been almost three years, and images & feelings are still very strong.

don't tell me to get over it.

when you lose a loved one in an avalanche, then we can talk. until then...just keep your opinions to yourself.

boys with sleds are THE most down to earth people i have every met.

and they're passionate.

and that's why they're my favorite.

i am 150% jenkins attitude...so don't mess, son. you will regret saying stupid stuff.
i try incredibly hard to be strong on a daily basis, and things are getting easier. however, when you go through something this hard, everything in your life is affected.

the moral of the story? just watch what you say! back up your story with facts, and in all reality...NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR OPINION!

that is all.