PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

It was a week ago at roughly this time that we finally got back to my house...

 

Purple Rain got a bath today!

 

The Taco also got a bath today; I am sad to say that as of right now, I am putting the full “Zombie Truck” garb on indefinite hiatus. Usually, I have the stickers and shit off by mid-November, but it was unseasonably cold for November even by Southeast PA standards. It is now May and I still haven’t fully dezombified the truck; I am leaving the windshield banner and bullbar stickers on permanently, but everything else is finally gone!

 

What a difference less than 30 minutes at the carwash makes!

 

Things have gotten better in terms of flashbacks to Saturday night, but what I’m focused on right now is when I ran up to Emily’s condo and saw her through the window. As I was banging on the glass and screaming Emily’s name, things seemed to go into slow motion. My therapist later told me that this was likely the result of an adrenaline rush. Amanda thought she saw Emily’s stomach go up and down at least twice, which really led us both to believe she was still alive. I would say that we arrived shortly before 8:40PM, because 8:40PM is when I called 911. Police and EMS arrived at about 8:46PM, and at about 8:51PM, Emily was declared dead by the paramedics. As soon as the cop turned on the lights, the facade of Emily simply being unconscious vaporized. Hannah, from what we can tell, pretty much never left her side until she heard mine and Amanda’s voices.

 

More pics from that day at the barn in May 2010…

 

So awful to read this . You’re a good man to check on a friend and to care for their dog. So sorry for your loss

 

Thanks

It was more my girlfriend Amanda than me. She has a sixth sense when it comes to this sort of thing. In February, Amanda’s birth mother passed away in her apartment and was not found for five days. She lived about an hour away, and driving out to do a welfare check was not convenient. This is still fresh in our minds, and Emily only lived 15 minutes from my house so we were not about to have a repeat. Amanda’s mother also had two elderly dogs, who fortunately had water and were also able to survive by eating garbage, and Hannah (Emily’s dog, now Amanda’s dog) was another part of the equation that influenced our decision to go out in a nasty storm. Because of Amanda had a bad feeling, Emily was dead less than 24 hours and we possibly saved Hannah’s life!

 

Is your dog a Chocolate Lab or a Red Lab?

 

Was military for 26 years, and you need to seek some professional help. Its good to talk with friends, but if youre in a place you cant function, you need to find some help. PTSD isnt just a "military" thing. and i do know youre Neurodivergent, so please, if this keeps bothering you, find a professional to help. I talked with my friends for years about the shit we've done and seen, and it wasnt until I sought out professional help, did I honestly start to be bale to REALLY put things behind me. I am sorry for this experience you have to have, but you and Amanda did what all friends should do. I am truly sorry.

 

I'm sure she added the window decal but what about the other 2? And which is the one next to the Phillies?

 

I'm talking to my longtime therapist regularly, as is Amanda, and he is helping Amanda to seek out a more specialized therapist; Amanda was diagnosed with PTSD on account of stuff that happened to her years before we met. I am honestly improving, at least in terms of sleeping better and not having vivid flashbacks. My therapist, who I trust deeply, believes that the memories of finding Emily will fade a lot within two weeks; I do not think the memory of finding Emily (and seeing her dead on the couch) will 100% fade.

That said, for two nights after finding Emily, I was worried that I'd wake up at night and see a dead body in my dark bedroom. We found Emily on Saturday night, and I did not sleep well Saturday into Sunday or Sunday into Monday. On Monday night, I slept a lot better and continue to sleep better, and as does Amanda. The fear of seeing a dead body in the dark (Emily or otherwise) has subsided.

Amanda has been on medical leave for almost a week and returned to work tonight (she works 9pm-9am Sunday into Monday, and 11pm-9am Monday through Thursday, with Friday and Saturday totally off).

The memorial service for Emily's friends will be on May 19th, and my boss has already given me approval to take the whole day off; I believe that this will give Amanda and me a great deal of closure. My parents have been very supportive through all of this, and encourage me to tell them whatever's on my mind with regards to Emily's death.

 

One of them says "Cat Mom", and the one that is blacked out can't be shown publicly on TW...

 

So glad to hear you have help and so does she!! I wish you the best and closure as you stated.

 

Hannah, Emily's dog who we have now officially adopted, has been a huge help as well; Dogs and cats make excellent therapists, and they don't even realize it!

 

On another note, at this point having found Emily dead is more surreal than traumatizing to me; it took over a day for it to sink in that I'd been banging on a window and screaming at a dead body...

 

she is a chocolate !