Ken's Greatest Challenge Part 2: The Guestbook

By Mickie Kelly

There were many encouragements to Ken during his five-year diary called Ken's Greatest Challenge, many heartfelt and inspirational messages from family, friends, coworkers, students, those who knew Ken, and those who knew about Ken.

This guestbook is a collection of these messages that were all read by Ken. He appreciated these so much. I believe that these are what kept him so very positive and fighting for as long as he did.

I thank you all from the depths of my heart as to what it did to encourage this very amazing man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887511382

Book preview

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Ken's Greatest Challenge Part 2

The Guestbook

Mickie Kelly

ISBN 979-8-88751-136-8 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88751-138-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Mickie Kelly

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

About the Author

About the Motorcycle

Preface

During the five-year diary of Ken's Greatest Challenge so many of his family, friends, coworkers, students, those that knew him and those that knew about him wrote back to Ken in his Caring Bridge Guestbook. There are many, many encouragements of very inspirational and heartfelt messages. Ken read all of them and appreciated them all so very, very much. I thank you all from the depths of my heart as to what it did to encourage this amazing man.

Ken Kelly, this too is my gift to you, your life and your amazing legacy!

Love, Mickie

Here are some excerpts to get you started:

You are an amazing man and don't deserve this huge challenge in your life but God and the universe work in funny ways. Your challenge is teaching humility, strength, love and support to the rest of us who love and care about you. Thank you for being you! You are walking in strong, happy footsteps of your mother and you're making us all prouder than we have ever been. Please keep the love and positive outlook always in your heart.

You continue to awe and inspire me as you fight and stand up against the beast. Even as you deal with the tendrils that continue to try and reach out, you continue to hold a perspective towards bettering mankind. You, Sir, are a very strong man. My hope is that, as you stated, your fight will become a benefit to others. You continue to be an inspiration to many, myself included.

Because of you I want to be a better person. I want to help just a fraction of the people you have helped. You are truly an amazing man and one I am honored to know. I now see life in a different way because of your journey and your words.

The way you wear your heart on your sleeve helps me understand more and more each day how precious life is and how important it is to embrace the smallest (which turn out to be the largest) things. I listen to you as you take us all on this journey with you and you end up giving us all strength and a better understanding of just how strong people can be with a little faith, some good friends and a great family.

I am honored to be in your life and to have the opportunity to accompany you on this journey, as dismal as it seems at time. God does not give us challenges we cannot handle. For with faith, love, thanksgiving and the Lord's guidance and blessing, we can handle anything He gives us. While we may never know why these challenges are given to us, I think all of us who are faithful can understand that they make us stronger servants of the Lord.

You my friend have made one of the greatest gifts possible to this earth. You have educated, you have ensured that through your work mankind has been made better. If we all could live to that standard, imagine what life would be like.

May 23rd, 2009

Hey, Dude, I am so glad that we got to see you last week. I always look forward to seeing you when you are in my neck of the woods. It was great to read about the latest news from your oncologist. That really is great to hear. You are a man of strength, wisdom and fortitude. I know that with your strength and faith, you will be able to stare this thing straight in the face and then kick its butt!

As I have said before, I will always be here for you. Whatever you may need, please do not hesitate to call me. You are in my thoughts daily and know that we are praying for you.

Stay in touch and God bless.

K. T. and Family

May 23rd, 2009

Hi Kenny, I want to send you a big hug and let you know I also believe that you will stare this nastiness down. I love you, Cuz. You are the most positive and fiercely optimistic man I know. That is how it's done.

Love,

J. F. F.

May 26th, 2009

Hi Kenny. I am so glad that you have this website to keep us all in touch. Where did the time go? Where did the years slip away? How did that happen so fast? Why does it take something painful to re-remind us of how special we all are and give us that wake-up call again?

Please know that I am sending you lots of loving prayers, blessings and thank yous for being you and being such an incredible person.

I remember when we were kids coming out to Lima (or the boonies) to visit you all and spend the day and have family fun and family times. We would play and eat together. Sundays, weekends and holidays were always special family times like parents, kids and families just don't seem to have the time to do today. You guys always lived out there in the wide-open spaces with so much to explore that doesn't seem to exist much anymore. You all are special, and I love you all.

All those old sayings we heard our grandparents say and we pooh-poohed make sense now, don't they? The older you get, the smarter you get…too soon you get old, too late you get smart…time and life are short…they go on and on. Funny how they make so much sense now, don't they?

I am so very grateful for all the love and family connections we have and have had—even though we've gotten lax or caught up in life since our moms, dads and uncles are not here. I hope and pray that we will continue throughout the years, even though it seems to have slipped away with time and everyone being so very busy with life, kids, family, stuff and all.

You have always been special and especially special when you stood up and took charge and helped out when you suddenly had to become the man of the family and comforted your mom. You, my cousin, are wonderful and special. You have always been there with your mom, God bless her soul. What an amazing woman she was, and what an amazing man you have turned out to be. God bless you in everything, and I thank you for all of that.

I hope we can all get together while I am visiting and helping out in the garden through June 10th. I am looking forward to it, and also, I'll be home in August and Christmas. Home is, and always will be, where the heart is and where your roots are.

Much love coming your way always,

K. L. H.

May 27th, 2009

What can I say (yes, I know…me at a loss for words?) except, you are a strong person who will make all efforts to overcome! You have not only taught in EMS (emergency medical services), you cared for EMS! That's what makes you a person who not only cared for the EMS people but also the EMS families. Stay cool.

D. R.

May 27th, 2009

Ken, I don't know where I would be in life if it wasn't for you taking me under your wing and showing me what I was truly able to do in life. You will always be more than a boss and teacher to me. You will always be a true friend of mine and I'm proud to call you that. I know you are a strong person and you will beat this. Keep in touch and I hope to see you September 26th, 2009, at my wedding.

K. G. (F.)

May 27th, 2009

Ken, you and Mickie are amazing people and would give anyone the shirt off your back if needed. You have mentored and taught so many people your gift of Paramedicine. You, and a few others, have pushed and molded my husband into the paramedic he is today and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Who knows, maybe one day you could see him teaching. You never know. You are a fighter and a strong person who I know won't give up unless you truly believe that nothing else can be done, but I also know that you won't just sit around. You are the type of person who lives life to the fullest. So I wish you the best. Stay strong. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask, even if it's just boring our son for a day to have fun. Trust me, he'll keep you on your toes.

All our love,

J., M., D. and M. B.

May 27th, 2009

To you, Ken, and your family, all the best wishes.

R. B.

May 27th, 2009

Ken, it sorrows me to hear of your newest and greatest challenge. You are a strong person who will meet this challenge head on. And no matter the outcome, it is a win-win. You either spend more time here with those you love…or you enter into the presence of our Lord and help prepare our place there.

Your contribution to our profession is mountainous. Those you have taught and mentored carry on the excellence of their teacher, and hopefully, they will share that knowledge with others who will continue.

You and your loved ones are in my prayers as you meet this challenge together. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord lift up His face upon you. May the Lord keep you in His favor and grant you peace.

R. Z.

May 27th, 2009

You have had many challenges before and you have certainly helped me with mine. You and Mickie are in my prayers as you face the challenges ahead. You asked me who my hero was and that we shared the same hero, B. L., but now I have a new hero, and that is you. Thank you for all that you have taught me and believe me, it is more than just emergency medicine. If I can help in anyway, just ask.

E. Z. (Y.)

May 27th, 2009

Hi Ken and Mickie! A little birdie broke the news to me a little while ago, and F. and I were in shock. Thank you for providing this opportunity to all of us to support you and offer words of encouragement.

I have to tell you, when I heard about FLA (Finger Lakes Ambulance), the better protocols, from J., I just had to come out there. I was at that point where I was getting crispy at my other five jobs and honestly wanted to stop being a paramedic and start a new chapter. After meeting you and coming out to FLA, I felt like that new paramedic again, learning more stuff, having fun; and I started to enjoy life again. I enjoyed it so much that I quit all my other jobs and for the first time in twelve years of EMS, I had one job! It was awesome. You made it awesome. I had someone to look up to that wasn't an idiot or on a power trip. You and Mickie always made me smile and feel welcomed. I never expected a knee injury would take me out of the career I figured I'd be working in for the next three or four decades. Because of you, I was able to gracefully leave EMS (although not by my choosing) and have wonderful and fond memories of how great it is and how it gets in your blood and doesn't leave. For that, I cannot thank you enough, Mr. Kelly.

People have expressed many of the same thoughts and feelings that F. and I share. You have made New York a much better and safer place to be. Your spirit will carry on through the rest of us, and I hope that helps ease your mind. I know you will meet this challenge like a multivehicle crash with a tractor trailer, an MCI (mass casualty incident), head on with precision and a bit of soft gentle grace that is the swagger of Ken Kelly.

In typical B. J. fashion, here's a stab at making you laugh, knowing that no equipment was broken in the process will hopefully bring a smile to your handsome face:

One wintry night, not too long after I started at FLA, one of the ambulances had an unexpected encounter with the train tracks in the city of Geneva. I'm thinking this is a decent time to come clean, as I'm sure by now you may have heard a rumor about a rig stuck on the train tracks. Sir, it was I! I turned down what I thought was a back alley because I had pulled a practical joke on the other crew and they were looking for us. In my attempt to hide the giant billboard (also known as a Finger Lakes Ambulance), I ended up doing a bit of off-roading. Once I realized where I was, I attempted to leave the area, and with that bus, I slid on the wet snow and ice. The two wheels went over the tracks, and we were stuck! Many attempts were made to extricate ourselves from the mess I had created, and with the help of the other crew, the bus was literally picked up and moved off the tracks. I am sorry I never admitted to this debacle until now (grin), but it feels appropriate since I just got a job in the real world and my EMS career is a fond memory that I can draw upon. Angels were with us that night as the train did not come through on time and I didn't have to explain why my bus was on the tracks to begin with and, oh yeah, we need a new ambulance and all the equipment that goes with it because a train obliterated the rig!

I need to thank you for giving me my life back. With your encouragement, with the whole weight-loss challenge, you put hope into my life that I would one day loose some weight. Part of the pain with my knee injury was because I was a fat butt. I didn't want to let you down. I wanted to loose weight. For the first time, I really tried to loose and for the first time, I won. I finally have a regular schedule, can cook and sleeping six to seven hours instead of two to three. To date, I have lost sixty pounds and Monday, I bought my first sized 14/16 shirt (I was in a size 24) and my pants went from size 56 to a 42! I have a few more to go, but if it wasn't for you, I would never have started. Ken, you've been my hero and inspiration for the past year. You gave me my life back in multiple ways. Thank you! My knee pain is diminishing, and I'm hoping to get another motorcycle next spring. We should go riding!

I like angels too. I believe in them, and I believe in you. You'll meet this challenge like a seasoned paramedic and have it wondering who the heck did it mess with. You're one of the best and I'm not just saying that. I will be thinking of you guys often, and I will do whatever to help you in any way.

B. J. O.

May 27th, 2009

Ken and Mickie, thanks for taking the time, effort and energy to develop this website. The site will give others an opportunity to be of support to you without feeling that we are invading your privacy. You will remain in my thoughts and prayers. Let the angels ride strong and let us all pray that they do their work.

L. R. T.

May 27th, 2009

Ken, just a quick hi and I'll see you at work, so no need for lots of talk here.

B. C.

May 27th, 2009

Mr. Kelly—I cannot address you as Ken, it just doesn't seem to give sufficient respect—I am writing because A. is not as proficient at speaking her feelings. I am the writer in the family.

I would like to thank you for creating the amazing individual A. has become. You have taught her that she can be anything she wishes to be. You have guided her through her difficult times and understood even when personal things interfered with her work. I am incredibly proud of the paramedic that she is, and you are directly responsible for that.

I would also like to offer you some alternative medicine. I am sure, if you are not knowledgeable of it, you will do the research! A. and myself are Reiki practitioners. It can't hurt you, but it surely does help. If nothing else, it can help reduce the pain. Feel free to contact me if you are not comfortable contacting A. We are at your disposal.

Our prayers and healing energies are with you. You may just hear from me again sometime.

C. D., A. K.'s Other Supervisor!

May 27th, 2009

Ken, I am sorry to hear of your most recent challenge. You are in my thoughts and prayers. You have touched so many lives and I know you will continue to do so in the future.

L. R.

May 27th, 2009

Mr. Kelly, what can I say that hasn't already been said by so many? You are an amazing man. You believed in me when most didn't, when even I didn't. You have molded so many of us into what we are today. Sometimes I wonder if you have any idea what a profound impact you have made to so many. I know that, personally, you helped me to see life from an entirely new perspective. You made me realize that I am in control of my life and who I am. It is thanks to you that my children and I are where we are today. You have been the biggest influence in my life. Whenever I get the strength to fight something impossible, I think of you, and I always will.

Thank you. Thank you so much for being my mentor, my boss, my instructor and the person who I respect most.

Love,

C. B.

May 27th, 2009

Ken, it is so hard to hear bad news about the people you care for and love. I know that we truly don't have a connection; but I feel, through K., we have a wonderful friendship. He speaks so highly of you and respects you so much. We both know in our hearts that you will beat this, and we would love to be there and help out the best we can. You have made K. into the person, the paramedic, the father and the soon-to-be husband that he is today. I wish you the best of luck. If you need anything, please contact us. I know you will overcome this and one day you will teach M. to be a great paramedic, just like her daddy.

Lots of love from all of us!

P. and K. G.

May 27th, 2009

Mr. Kelly, Sir, I can't remember when I didn't call you that at least once a day. Sometimes Ken, but always with respect. This coming from a man who is how many years older than you? Growing up in a military family might just have had something to do with it. What do you think?

When I first heard the news, about this latest challenge you were facing, I felt saddened. As the information began to sink in, it dawned on me that you are a man of faith, with strong convictions, and was reminded of scripture that says, "I can do all things through Christ (God) who strengthens me. Not very good at quoting the Bible, yet I think you know what scripture I am attempting to quote. When faced with my personal battle with cancer, my pastor gave me a bracelet that I still wear almost three years later, God Strong, Ephesians