Michelle (Brunton) Taylor

20 years?  It seems like only yesterday.   I was thinking that it would be difficult to sum 20 years up in just a few paragraphs.  But as I thought about it, I realized that really only one word was needed to describe my life in the last 20 years and that is, “Blessed”.  What started me thinking of that word is when I first looked at the site and saw my name in the “lost Alumni” instead of where it could have been on October 4, 2006 “Deceased”.  But before telling you about that, let me fill in the gap.

As some of you may remember I was engaged during our senior year, I did get married in October following graduation (and from what I remember a few of you attended; Jesse, Nikki, Charly and Selene).  I married Lee Taylor (class of ’83, and Jesse Taylor’s brother) and we are still happily married 20 years later!  After we were married, I worked in accounting and payroll for LATA and then I did some secretarial work for an architect & engineering firm.  Both of which I hated and couldn’t wait to quit and do what I really wanted which was to be a stay at home mom.  Four years later I received my double MA degree and started raising the first of four children.  We have three beautiful daughters, Courtney 16, Vanessa 14, Kirstin 12 and one adorable fun loving son, Wyatt 5.  Our kids stay busy attending youth group activities at our church (where their  ”gunker Jesse”-what my son called him until just recently, is the youth pastor) working part-time jobs, competing in rodeo’s, riding horses, raising pigs and lambs for 4-H livestock projects, riding four wheelers and most recently hunting and shooting sports.  We love to spend time together as a family, fishing, hiking, playing sports and games together are a few family favorites.

We lived in Los Alamos for 8 years and then moved to the Jemez Mountains where we still live, in La Cueva.   I stay busy homeschooling our kids, which I find very rewarding to be the one teaching them to read and preparing them for college or whatever their future holds and reaping the benefits of having a close connected relationship during those difficult teen years.  In the summers, I work on the Sandoval County Fair Board and help with 4-H activities for our kids.   I also teach Emergency Medicine for ENMU which involves teaching Basic Life Support and training new EMT-First Responders, Basics and Intermediates along with teaching continuing education for license requirements and skill refreshers.   My passion in life is working as a volunteer EMT-Intermediate, a wildland fire fighter and a structural fire fighter.   I have been the EMS Captain for almost twelve years and really enjoy everything about helping people in emergencies whether it is trauma, medical issues, fires or rescues nothing beats being able to help someone and change a life not because you get a paycheck but because you can make a difference.   Lee continues to work at LANL for Hewlett Packard and he is also the Fire Chief here in La Cueva.   The fire department is a family affair; at just about every emergency here in the Jemez you will find me, Lee and our two oldest children answering the call.  Both of the girls are interested in pursuing a path in the medical field and Courtney has already achieved the first level of EMS licensure in NM.  Our other two children are still too young to respond to emergencies but you’ll find them at the stations washing trucks and participating in just about every training exercise.

I haven’t traveled the four corners of the world but God has fully blessed me with a wonderful husband and a great family.  It is something that I treasure every day and was given the opportunity to see its true value and worth through the eyes of cancer.  I was diagnosed with breast cancer in September of 2006 and began treatment and surgery in October 2006.  After a massive 9 ½ hour surgery I suffered a blood clot that went through my heart and into my lung (a pulmonary embolism).  I was found in my hospital bed without a pulse or a blood pressure and it took 45 minutes of resuscitation to bring me back.  So, by the hand of God I am here to tell my story and not be a part of the memorial being planned at our reunion.  It’s been a great road of miracles and healing that in a nut shell required nearly a month in ICU, a dozen more surgeries, liver and heart damage, kidney failure and dialysis all of what you can read about if you want at www.myspace.com/survivorinthepink .  So what I do now is what I did BC (before cancer) but with a new perspective of living in the moment, a life not wasted, making a difference and like the lyrics from Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dying”.  Life is truly a gift from God and time is a precious short commodity showing us what matters most in this life is our relationship with God, family & friends.  I walked away from high school 20 years ago and had no intention of returning to the memories, friendships or reunions.  But now, after my brother-in-law Jesse ousted me from the lost alumni list J, I find myself looking forward to seeing everyone again, catching up and reconnecting, see you all in July!