So after my last race of the season in Lake Placid, NY, I was quite anxious to finish packing the sleds, my room at the OTC (they needed us to pack our belongings up and put in storage so they could do some revamping and move in new full size beds for the resident athletes).  After the races and celebrating with my teammates and international bobsled friends, I fell extremely ill.  I haven’t felt that sick and week since I came down with the plague my freshman year of college.  Our sports med office was closed for the weekend so I tried to stay hydrated and sleep as much as possible thinking I was just burnt out from and emotional and long season.  Once Monday came I did not feel any better and immediately went to sports med during their regular hours.  Got the typical assessment, temperature, glands check, strep test, a listen of the lungs and was given some over the counter medicine while being told to check in later in the day and the next morning.  Despite all the rest and sleep I was doing along with some medicine I was not feeling any better.  Saw the OTC doctor and was diagnosed with walking pneumonia possibly conjuction with bronchitis.  AWESOME! I thought.  Well since my mom is a recent heart surgery patient as well as already has a weaker immune system to the average population, I figured I would call her and let her know my diagnosis and figure out a plan to remain from getting her sick since I was on my way home in a day.  It was also my mom’s second day back at work since her quadruple bypass surgery.  By 6pm that evening I was getting calls and text from a dear family friend, when I was able to get back to them, the news was that my mom had suffered a stroke shortly after returning home from work and my sister called 911.  Devastated as expected, I was once again feeling helpless being so far from my family.  I decided since I was so sick myself that it made more sense to finish packing that night and leave the following day as planned since I would not be allowed to visit my mom in both our current conditions. 
After driving home which seemed more like a 20 hour drive rather than 4.5, I collapsed on the couch from mental and physical exhaustion.  I refrained from visiting my mom in the hospital over the course of her stay to make sure I did not contribute to any further health risks while her doctors were running test and treating her.  I recovered from being sick in about a week but was still very exhausted and week.  My mom arrived home within 5 days of her initial admittance to the hospital and finally I was home with my family.  I planned on being home for a month and during this month my main goals were to spend time with my younger sister and Mom, help with some construction projects around our house, SLEEP, catch up with other family/friends, SLEEP, organize what I needed for summer training and the upcoming season, SLEEP, finish my first semester of grad school strong, oh and did I mention SLEEP.  Basically my main goal was to rest and recover as much as possible while the other activities were fillers lol.  Due to my mom’s health issue, I needed to take over the “head of the household” role, which to tell you the truth was a
little overwhelming at first but then the positive was I got to be BOSS!  I did not take any leniency on bossing my mom around, haha.  The month at home was filled with lots of “running“around.  Taking my mom to different doctor
appointments, rehab and follow ups as well as doing daily errands to maintain the household, ya know “grown up folks” things that need to be done.  I also managed to stay out of a weight room, not the gym completely but
venture into some “fun” workout activities as I categorize them, such as hot yoga, kick boxing and p90x for a good laugh.  Spending time with my little sister was a treat since there is such a big age gap between us (8 years, 11 months, 16 days and apprx 6 hours to be exact.)  She taught be some things about the new generation of youth and got be up to date with some music and style as she says.  I flew down Atlanta, GA (ATL) to visit my teammate Elana Meyers (2010 Olympic Bronze Medalist brakeman turned bobsled pilot) for an adventure up the east.  She has been talking up the south to me for years/months and this stubborn yankee argued nail and tooth reppin the North East. 
Her family recently moved to a gorgeous new home in the outskirts of the city in a town called Douglassville. 
I got to experience some southern royalities, mostly desserts due to Elana and my love of sweets, play a basketball game against some local 5th graders for a school event, see some ATL night life and experience why Atlanta’s
nickname is HOTlanta. Elana was graduating from George Washington University in DC in a week and also wanted to drive her car up to Lake Placid for summer training.  We figured why not make a mini road trip of it and brake up the extremely long driving travel.  We stuffed Elana’s mini Toyota Yaris to the roof and trecked our way to Washington, D.C (Capital of the U S of A).  This was a treat as I had not been to DC in a very long time and new of some friends I could see around that area that I haven’t seen as well.  We were staying in a hotel right next to Dupont Circle annnnnnnnnnd a Krispy Kreme (lots of will power for those 4 days to not eat the place empty). While Elana had to fill some Grad School obligations during the day, I went venturing through parts of DC and did some sightseeing.  It was great to see the monuments again, especially ones that are photographed and printed so regularly marking momentus parts of our history as a nation and a people. I felt this overwhelming spirit of patriotism everyday and thought of how lucky I am and thankful I am to all the men and women who did and do serve!  I was able to revisit the White House (Obama was out of town so had to cancel out tea time lunch ;-) ), the Lincoln
Memorial (a place where many have made speeches, riots, proclamations and testimonies), the Washington Monument and the Vietnam War Memorial Wall (paying respect to my mother’s cousin whom lost his life at such a young age after enlisting and serving during the Vietnam War.).  On the last day while in our nation’s capital,  Elana and I celebrated  her final horray as she complete grade school a long journey for her with lots of obtisticals but none the less accomplished with success.  We also took some pictures around the city with a flag from Atlanta Children’s Hospital. Elana with them and supporting a campaign for “Donate Life”, which supports organ transplant for children. After an exhausting few days for Elana and lots of walking around for me, we packed up in the car again to drive to my home in NJ for a few days to finish packing my things, a last bit of fun with my family and last minute errands.  My mom has kept a great positive attitude throughout her life despite some horrible horrible circumstances. 
She has been knocked down quite a few times and recently it seems that before she barely gets square on her feet to catch her balance the rug is pulled out from under her again.  This small health battle she is experiencing is only another victory of perseverance and strength she can add to her conquered list.  That being said it was hilarious having Elana see my families “true colors.”  She has met my mom and sister briefly but to full on hang out with them
throughout the course of a day is a whole other ball game.  As Elana stated, “Your mom and sister are a trip. 
Too funny!” and “Now this explains a lot about you.” Haha.  Elana and I share in common our family heritage from Jamaica but she has not experienced a lot of the traditional meals and culture.  My mom and I took her downtown to pick up some Jamacian specialties and show her some things.  She had a Jamaican patty and cocoa bread, Jamaican kola, coconut dessert, red snapper fresh from the fish market and more.  Once again Elana and I packed our stuff, this time driving separately and drove up to Lake Placid.  Man was it a treat to head into our room, the same room we had last year where the OTC revamped it with new paint, new carpet, new full size beds and furniture. Although this break had its hectic moments, scary moments and a lot of the rest and recovery felt more like “active recovery” as coaches say, it was awesome all around.  Now back in the training center with a fresh start to the new season and continuing building through the Olympic quad to Sochi 2014.