7-Day Countdown to Our Mom’s “Murphys Don’t Quit” Book Release on October 5th!
A post from each of the SEVEN Murphy Kids, AKA SLESKRM — Sam, Lauren, Erin, Shannon, Kelsey, Ryan & Maggie – and our Dad (Lauren and our Dad will post together)
Countdown – 1 Day until the “Murphys Don’t Quit” Book Release!
Today’s Post is from: Lauren & Our Dad (David Murphy)
Lauren:
Murphy Kid Order/Number: I am the second oldest — and always the best dressed!!
Quick background: Graduated IWA 2006, Fontbonne 2010, and Lindenwood MBA 2011. Moved to NYC 2011. Accident April 2013
Dad:
Quick Background: Married to the beautiful and talented Colleen Murphy since 1990. Work in IT. All-around great guy.
Favorite part of the book: Favorite part of the book is woven throughout the story is how Colleen selflessly threw herself into Lauren’s recovery and would not take no for an answer. My favorite of their 5 keys is “Find Your Cheerleader”. Everyone needs someone in their life who is as incredible of a Cheerleader for them as Colleen is for Lauren. Colleen reminds me of all the kings horses and all the kings men who are trying to put Humpty Dumpty (Lauren) back together again. The book is an awesome read but having a front-row seat watching this unfold for the last 8 years is even better. I love you, Colleen.
Least favorite is how Colleen makes fun of me for about 150+ pages.
Lauren’s Post:
We gave Lauren writing prompts to write her post in her own words. Aphasia makes things tough, but Lauren is ALWAYS up for a challenge. See her responses in the attached photos.
Dad’s Post:
April 19th, 2013 started out like any other day for me. I was at work on a conference call when Lauren called me from LA. She was out there on a business trip. It was about 9:00am on a Friday morning and she was very excited to tell me that she was going to learn to surf. It seems her hotel had a class in surfing for $40 and she was looking forward to taking it over the weekend. She asked what I was doing and I told her I was on a conference call so she said, “Ok, I will let you go, talk to you soon.” She then went out for a run and that is when she was hit by the car. I still feel like if I had talked to her for 5 more minutes that day, the car would have passed by and life would still be the same for her and for my family.
It seems like it was early in the afternoon when I received a call from Colleen telling me that Lauren was in a very serious accident and that the hospital said we need to get to LA as soon as we can, they were not sure if she was going to survive. The rest of that day is a blur. I remember rushing home, packing, talking to most of my kids on the phone, trying to reassure them and offer them some bit of hope, but I think I was really trying to convince myself that she was going to make it even when everything looked very bleak.
I remember showing up at the hospital very late, like 2:30 or 3:30am and not being able to find where to go. Cedar Sinai is a very large complex and we had to have a nurse come find us and take us to where Lauren was. Before we went in the room, a Doctor met us and explained to us that Lauren was the sickest person in the whole hospital and that he honestly had no idea if she was going to survive. It is hard to describe the feelings of walking into the room, seeing your daughter lying on a hospital bed with her beautiful hair matted down with blood, her face and head swollen almost beyond recognition and her breathing on a ventilator. There were lots of beeping sounds, artificial breathing noises from the ventilator, lights blinking and tubes and wires everywhere. I had no idea what any of it was for and it scared me to death.
Dads fix things, that is what they do. Untying knots in shoelaces, bike repairs, hanging pictures and posters on your wall, and building things were my specialty. I was completely scared and intimidated. I had no idea what to do or if I was ever going to be able to fix this. One thing Colleen and I did that first day was to make a pledge to each other that while we had no idea how this was going to turn out, we needed to be on the same page. It would be too easy for us to let the stress of all of this come between us, so we made a vow not to let that happen.
We both took on different roles. Colleen almost never left the room. We were only allowed to have 2 people in the room at a time and she couldn’t stand to be away from Lauren for even a few minutes. She basically shut down to the entire outside world, her sole focus was on Lauren and what was unfolding in front of our eyes on a minute to minute basis. I took on the role of keeping the outside world informed as to what was happening in LA. Looking back on this, I think one reason I took on the role I did was that I didn’t want to be in that room. I had a hard time looking at what was going on and it was almost too much for me to process. It is weird how each of us copes with difficult situations.
As the days and weeks unfolded, I had to have a foot in two different worlds. I was trying to stay involved in Lauren’s world while at the same time trying to juggle everything from my job to being a Dad to the other 6 children, they needed a Dad as well. Very tough times for me, confusing, frustrating, scary all at the same time. I like to say that I am always confused between if I am supposed to be happy for what we have or sorry for what we lost. I have come to the realization that it is actually a combination of those two, and they can both be true at the same time.
I have a lot of sayings, one of them is about Miracles. I believe that the good Lord could turn a building upside down if he wanted to. However, I don’t think that is how he works any more. I think he works through people, and if you are open to it, you can see these types of things every day. Our miracle, apart from Lauren’s recovery, is the way folks rallied around my family. I would be remiss if I did not mention that there is simply no way I or for that matter the entire Murphy family could have gotten through this without the support of the Murphys Don’t Quit extended team. It is truly humbling for a guy like me to see what the kindness of your friends and the community at large can do when you really need it. It would bring me to tears to come home and see my grass already cut or to have food delivered to my house each afternoon so my kids could have a nice dinner. The countless acts of kindness are far too many to list here, but you folks know who you are. I am here to tell you that I read every text, tried to reply to all of them, and answered every phone call – those are one of the reasons I was able to keep waking up and moving forward each day. You folks are simply the best.
There is no way I can ever begin to repay what was given to us so just know that I am truly thankful for each and every one of you. I am trying to live my best life as an honor for what has been given to us and I think about it every day.
I think you should all read this book, not only because it is an incredible story, but it will give you a little insight of the miracle that I get to watch unfold every day.
Take care,
Murph
What Can YOU Do Now?
Help Support our Mom’s Book & Lauren’s Recovery Journey!
1) SHARE this post!
2) ORDER a “Murphys Don’t Quit” book on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/
3) ATTEND the October 10th book launch party from 11am – 3pm at Piazza Messina in Cottleville, MO.
4) CONTACT US if your company, organization, or group is interested in our mom, Colleen Murphy, and Lauren telling their story through their live (or virtual) speaking platform – LaurenMurphysdontquit@gmail.
THANK YOU! We 
Team Murphy!
Love this… can’t wait to read it!!
Wish I could be a Piazza Messina but I will be out of town
I CAN NOT WAIT TO BUY AND READ THIS BOOK! IT IS TRULY A MIRACLE THAT LAUREN IS ALIVE AND WELL! SHE IS SUCH AN INSPIRATION!