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Gina DiMartino

~ finding beauty in pain

Gina DiMartino

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Crochet Rag Rug

31 Thursday Oct 2013

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crochet, rag rug

 

 

 

 

Today I bought 5 yards of flannel. Nice warm and fuzzy plaids and plains. I am going to cut it into 3/4 inch strips and make it into yarn which I will then make into a flannel rag crochet rug.

IMG_2046

Yup. I’m crazy. About 4 cuts into my navy blue I think I will probably realize what a huge task I have taken on and give up. But I have nothing but time. So we’ll see. I am excited for this project. I even ordered a HUGE crochet needle from Amazon since no one here sells it.

IMG_2052

There’s a beautiful pattern in this crochet book for a rag rug and I just couldn’t resist trying it. Of course no one sells yarn like that so I had to make my own. But oh well. It was a fun project and It came out beautiful.

IMG_2057

It is a hexagon shape. I think next time I would just make my own pattern and do an oval. It’s not as tight of a crochet as I would like. Maybe I could double up the yarn or something. But for a first try, its pretty neat.

IMG_2059

WORLD Magazine article: Rochester Strong

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Boston Marathon, Boston Strong, Bstrong, Jamie Dean, Rochester Strong

 We recently had a great article in the WORLD magazine and I forgot to share it with you! Here it is! Jamie Dean did a great job sharing our story from a Christian perspective.

Rochester strong: Jamie Dean

BOSTON BOMBINGS | The DiMartino family is one among many beginning a life forever altered by the Boston bombing

HEALING: Gina, Peter, and his girlfriend (from right to left) recovering at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.Enlarge Image

Photo courtesy of the DiMartino family
HEALING: Gina, Peter, and his girlfriend (from right to left) recovering at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Gina DiMartino’s summer plans in Rochester, N.Y., include reading, sketching, visiting a local pool, and waiting for the severely damaged nerves in her right leg to regrow from her knee to her toes.

It’s not how she imagined the summer.

DiMartino, 31, also didn’t envision sharing a room in her parents’ home with her 28-year-old brother, Peter, while he waits for his nearly severed Achilles tendon to mend. Like hundreds of others injured in the Boston bombing in April, a spring trip brought a summer season of coping with the aftermath of terrorism.

Nearly three months after two bombs at the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured at least 265, the long recovery continues. At least 15 survivors are coping with missing limbs. Others are healing from nerve damage, broken bones, and burns. Families are learning to care for them. Many—including uninjured bystanders—are confronting the trauma of a day seared into their memories.

For DiMartino, some days bring pain and frustration as she learns to manage an injured leg and a foot she may not feel for at least a year. But the Christian and worship team member at a local church says the experience has also brought an unexpected sense of clarity. “I know I’m right where God wants me to be,” she says. “And that’s a good feeling.”

The journey from terror on a Boston sidewalk to comfort in a Rochester living room hasn’t been easy. But DiMartino’s story is one example that offers Christ-centered hope for others facing a summer they didn’t expect.

For DiMartino, confronting life changes began before the Boston bombings. In March, the Liberty University graduate (MBA) had just moved back to her parents’ home in Rochester, N.Y., after living and working in Kansas for several months. (DiMartino has worked for Starbucks for nine years.)

She wrestled with uncertainty about her future, and contemplated the next phase of her life. The time in Kansas didn’t bring answers. DiMartino returned to Rochester, played keyboards at Northridge Church, and prayed for guidance.

She also prepared for a road trip: Her family planned to travel to Boston to watch her mother, Mona, run in the Boston Marathon.

The group included DiMartino, her parents, her brother, Peter, and her sister and brother-in-law from Asheville, N.C. Peter’s girlfriend flew up from Houston with her young son. The group enjoyed a weekend of visiting relatives and watching a Red Sox game in seats atop the Green Monster—the 37-foot, left field wall at Fenway Park.

On Monday morning, DiMartino tracked her mother on an app that showed her location on the marathon route. By Monday afternoon, the family gathered at the finish line. The mood was festive. DiMartino’s father crossed the street to get a better angle for a photo.

The next thing DiMartino remembers is a loud sound: “Everybody was kind of lifted up and floating backwards.” The blast muffled DiMartino’s hearing, but she could see blood pouring from her leg. A piece of shrapnel had sliced a 9-inch gash near the bend of her knee, severing a main artery and two main nerves.

The blast also hit Peter, nearly severing his Achilles tendon and causing serious burns on his arms and back. Peter’s girlfriend suffered a severe leg injury, but her son escaped with a cut.

With DiMartino’s father forced by police to stay across the street, and her mother nearly three-quarters of a mile away, her uninjured sister, Kim, took charge. “She took off her coat and shoved it in my leg,” says DiMartino. While Kim and her (also uninjured) husband tended the family, DiMartino remained lucid: She tied a tourniquet around her knee, and tied her bag (containing her wallet, ID, and phone) to the tourniquet. “Then I laid down on the sidewalk,” she says. “And I thought: ‘Okay, I might die now.’”

Emergency workers quickly loaded DiMartino onto an ambulance with another victim. The man pleaded with workers to find his 4-year-old son, and he held DiMartino’s hand during the transport. One of the last things DiMartino remembers is a paramedic calling ahead to the hospital to tell doctors: “We have amputees here.”

Nearly 24 hours later, DiMartino awoke in the Intensive Care Unit of Boston Medical Center. She was thankful to discover she didn’t lose her leg, but she also learned her injury was serious.

On Friday, doctors operated for a third time. As police and FBI agents in nearby Watertown, Mass., combed the streets looking for accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, surgeons leaned over DiMartino’s leg, meticulously reconnecting her nerves.

The surgery was successful, but doctors told DiMartino her nerves would have to regrow from her knee to her toes before she could feel her foot again. The estimated time: 400 days.

The next two weeks brought a steady stream of visitors, as her parents alternated visits between DiMartino and her brother. (Peter was recovering from surgery and skin grafts.) Friends and leaders from her church in Rochester drove six hours to visit. And the day before DiMartino left for rehab, another visitor arrived: Steve, the injured man who rode with her in the ambulance.

From their stretchers, Steve and DiMartino greeted each other with tears. DiMartino inquired after his son. He was unharmed. She asked Steve about his own condition. He said he was fine. She pressed, and she learned the truth: The paramedics had been right about his injury. He lost his leg from the knee down.

CHANGE OF PLANS: The DiMartinos along the marathon route with signs for mom.
DiMartino family

CHANGE OF PLANS: The DiMartinos along the marathon route with signs for mom.

CHANGE OF PLANS: Peter working with his therapist in Boston.
Associated Press/Photo by Charles Krupa

CHANGE OF PLANS: Peter working with his therapist in Boston.

CHANGE OF PLANS: Gina recovering at home with a young friend.
DiMartino family

CHANGE OF PLANS: Gina recovering at home with a young friend.In the months since the Boston bombing, dozens of survivors have learned to cope with injury and trauma. Like the DiMartinos, some families had multiple victims. For example, brothers J.P. and Paul Norden, ages 33 and 31, both lost their right leg above the knee.

Major injuries mean lost income and mounting medical bills for many. Weeks-long hospital stays cost tens of thousands of dollars. Depending on the level of technology, a single prosthetic limb can cost between $5,000 and $50,000, according to the advocacy group Amputee Coalition. Patients must replace the limbs every few years.

Depending on caps in patients’ insurance plans, some could face a lifetime of medical bills. And though donors contributed more than $30 million to The One Fund Boston to help cover expenses for survivors, the fund’s administrator acknowledged it wouldn’t be enough to cover all the needs.

For now, many survivors are focusing on moment-by-moment recovery. Some are finding encouragement in their churches and communities. An overflow crowd packed St. Ann Catholic Church in Neponset, Mass., for a memorial service for Martin Richard, one of three killed in the bombing. The family scheduled the service for June 9—Martin’s 9th birthday.

The many children at the service included Martin’s 7-year-old sister, Jane, who lost her left leg below the knee. Priest Sean Connor talked with the children about hope, and remembered Jane’s first words to him after she awoke in the hospital: “Where have you been? You have to pray.”

For those coping with post-traumatic stress, Alasdair Groves—a counselor with the Christian Counseling & Education Foundation (CCEF)—says it’s important to remind survivors: “This is a normal response to an abnormal situation.” (Indeed, some military officials are beginning to drop the “D” from “PTSD,” recognizing that stress after a traumatic situation like combat is less a disorder and more a normal reaction to something terrible.)

For Christians coping with trauma, Groves says it’s important to learn to embrace both God’s sovereignty and His goodness: “It’s like the story of the redemption of the world: It started great, it went bad, but it’s going to get better. That’s how God works.”

Groves emphasizes that’s not a trite saying, but a process that takes time. Those helping survivors of trauma must give room to grieve and suffer. But Christians who embrace God’s sovereignty can believe God will use evil for good, he says: “You will be useful for having gone through this.”

Back in Rochester, that’s DiMartino’s hope. These days, she balances doctor appointments and rehab with sketching, reading, welcoming visitors, and slowly returning to cooking. Her blog features recipes, music, and pictures of smiling visits with friends.

She’s thankful she and her brother are safe, and says she doesn’t mind sharing a room. (Peter moved back to his parents’ home to recover, and DiMartino can’t climb the stairs to her upstairs bedroom.)

Still, some days are hard: She can’t leave the house without help. She still hasn’t gone into a crowd of people. Everything takes longer. She knows her recovery will be a long process. Not long after returning home, she blogged: “I did sit down on the couch and cry tonight. … But my sweet parents sat with me. Cried with me. And prayed for me. And I know God’s mercies are new every morning. …”

DiMartino says reflecting on her experience helps: She thinks about how her sister—with no medical training—knew exactly what to do in the critical first moments after the bombing.

She thinks about how her spring swimming regimen gave her the upper body strength she would need to use crutches. She thinks about how God is taking care of her family through practical help from her church and friends: “That gives us hope.”

DiMartino began that kind of reflection in the hospital, blogging on April 26 about Matthew 6: “We may never be the same as we were before,” she wrote. “Even if we get to ‘normal’ physically, these events will always be with us.” She continued: “I don’t know what that will look like one month from now, one year from now, ten years from now. But I read these verses and I am comforted. My Father knows what the future looks like, and He tells me: ‘Do not be worried about your life.’”

DiMartino says that’s been a surprising comfort: “I had no idea what to do with my life in March. … And I know it’s not a great answer, but now I know where God wants me to be because I can’t be anywhere else. And I know what he wants me to do because I can’t do anything else. … I’m excited to see what He does with this time, and I just hope I use it wisely.”

In the meantime, she’s happy to return to church. After her second Sunday back, she blogged about a worship song with the line: “You were singing in the dark and whispering Your promise even when I could not hear. …”

She wrote: “Sometimes we don’t know what God is doing or why He is sending trials our way. We can’t see, we can’t hear. But He is reaching for us. … He can see. He can hear. He knows what’s up ahead. He will never forsake us. Not even for a moment.”

A few good men

18 Friday Oct 2013

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“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” C. S. Lewis

A friend recently asked me to make a list of all the things I am looking for in a friend and she would pray that I would be blessed with that type of friendship. Why is it that some friendships are so hard. Some require so much work and are almost to the point of being exhausting. Other friends are kindred spirits and maintaining an amazing friend relationship is almost effortless. You can be apart from them for years with barely any communication and yet when you come back together its as if you were never apart. I have friends in all spectrums of this scenario. Since the bombing I have really been thinking about which friendships I need to invest in and which ones I need to let go. Some of them are not really worth the drama required to maintain them. I have enough other things to worry about without adding friend drama to the mix. What does it mean to be a good friend? What am I looking for in a friend? What do I need from a friendship and what do I need to give?

Things I am looking for in a friend

1. Loyal
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times

2. Values me and my time
John 15:12-14 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

3. Honest & holds me accountable
Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend…27:9 The sweetness of a friend comes from his honest counsel.

4. Fun: someone who lets you be yourself

5. No drama: doesn’t talk about me behind my back
Proverbs 16:28 A whisperer separates close friends

6. Genuinely loves me

7. Compassionate

8. Challenges me to be a better person spiritually
27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another
“The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.” C. S. Lewis

9. Respects my other friends

10. Values their family and treats them with honor and respect

That’s my list so far. I’m sure it will be added to or taken away from over time. But for now, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s what I am praying for in a friend. Each of these attributes are important to me. However, I know that in pursuing friends who demonstrate these things to me, I need to in turn strive daily to be this type of friend to others. I cant expect to find friends of this noble character if I myself am not. So in addition to praying for friends with these characters, I am praying that I would be this friend to others!

Luke 6:31-34 (The Message) Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers do that.

What are you looking for in a friend?

Liberty Journal Article

12 Saturday Oct 2013

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Boston Strong, Liberty Journal, Liberty University

Here is an article featured in the Liberty University Journal. As an alum of the college, they reached out to me to see if I would allow them to include my story in the Fall edition of the magazine.

Graduate injured in Boston Marathon bombing finds hope in midst of tragedy

Gina DiMartino shares time with friends as she recovers in a Boston hospital.
DiMartino shares time with friends as she recovers in a Boston hospital.

What began as a fun family trip quickly became a life-changing experience for alumna Gina DiMartino (’07, M.B.A.). DiMartino, of Rochester, N.Y., and several members of her family traveled to Boston to watch her mother run in the Boston Marathon on April 15.

As DiMartino eagerly tracked her mother’s progress via a smart phone app, she and three other loved ones were caught in one of two blasts that claimed the lives of three and wounded at least 264 near the finish line.

DiMartino was only 10-15 feet away when the bomb went off, sending her and the other spectators flying through the air. The trauma caused her to teeter in and out of consciousness, so she only remembers the event in pieces: the sound of the explosion, being lifted off the ground, her sister binding a sweatshirt around her bleeding leg, being ushered into an ambulance, and waking up in the hospital a day later.

Her injuries included a large gash near her right knee, resulting in severe nerve damage that caused her to lose feeling from the knee down. Thankfully, she is expected to fully regain feeling in her leg and foot, but the process may take up to 400 days. Her brother, Peter, his girlfriend, and her son were also injured but are all expected to recover sooner.

DiMartino was released from the hospital on May 9, after three weeks in a hospital room and another stint at a rehab center. Now she is living on the first floor of her parents’ Rochester home as she recovers. She has limited mobility and goes to physical therapy three days a week.

Through this experience, DiMartino has found strength and encouragement in the Lord. She clings to the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “God’s power is made perfect in weakness” (paraphrase).

“Laying in the hospital bed, I could feel God’s strength,” she said. “I knew that I had absolutely no strength to get through all the surgeries and everything that was going on, and dealing with it. I could feel God’s strength, and I could feel He was with me.”

She said even in her darkest moments, God never fails to bring encouragement, often in the form of a text or email. In addition to tremendous support from family, friends, and her church, she has also received encouragement from a number of people she has never met, many of them fellow believers.

“It is an amazing feeling to be so surrounded and protected by God and prayer and just feeling His promises fulfilled in you,” she said. “There have been so many people who have been so encouraging to me, many that I don’t even know.”

Written by Andrew Menard

http://issuu.com/libertyuniversity/docs/libertyjournal_fall2013?e=4413175/4975360

 

Psalm 32

11 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Boston Strong, psalm 32

A great friend of mine reads a Psalm every day. He reads the Psalm that corresponds with his age. So this year, for both of us, it is Psalm 32. His faith and life inspire me in many ways. He has long been an example to me of a steadfast man of God.

This morning I was having a rough time. I was frustrated about my leg and my brother called me excited about all the great things they are getting to do now that they are engaged and apparently the most famous people in the world. Everyone wants their story because its is a beautiful story about taking a horrible situation and turning it into something great. They are inspirational and they deserve all the attention and recognition they are getting. This however is sometimes frustrating for me. Because I was in the bomb too. I too deal with its effects every day. I am not begrudging them their attention and their fame. They are amazing people and they deserve every bit of it. But some days it makes me feel very small. I feel like my involvement in this story gets smaller and smaller and when people think of our family and those hurt in the bombing, Peter and Rebekah are the ones at the forefront. I am being pushed back farther and farther. I am unimportant. And then I feel bad for myself. I don’t want people to forget about me. While they are swooning over Peter and Rebekah’s engagement and marriage and their amazing story, I am watching from behind the scenes and sometimes, only sometimes I am JEALOUS.

This morning I was feeling sad. Feeling like I was missing out. Small. Unimportant. I was praying and knowing that my attitude was WRONG and that the devil was trying to bring me down and fill me with jealousy and make me miserable. So I prayed and I knew I had to open my bible and read truth so I would stop believing lies. I decided that I would do as my friend does and read the Psalm that corresponds with my age. I opened to Psalm 32.

Blessed
is the one whose transgression is forgiven 
whose sin is covered 
Blessed
is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity 
and in whose spirit there is no deceit
You
are a hiding place for me
You
preserve me from trouble
You
surround me with shouts of deliverance

Steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

I took a moment to be still and let it all sink in. How this Psalm humbles me! My sins are forgiven, I am blessed! God preserves me from trouble and I am surrounded with steadfast love! Fame and recognition are of no value. I only pray that I can remember these truths as I march along this road of healing. I am important in the eyes of the only ONE who really matters. He preserves me, delivers me, and surrounds me with love. That is all I really need. 

raindrops keep falling on my head

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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javas

Javas sitting. Its raining outside. Huge drops, long straight streams of water falling heaving to earth. Inside it is warm and full. People come in and out. Umbrellas march apst the windows. Faceless. Turkish coffee is delicious. Warm, thick and sweet with a hint of cloves. Pour it into tiny cups and slowly sip its warm goodness. I see so many people I know. I should sit here more often. I would get more work done. Maybe. Why do I procrastinate so much. Why is it so hard for me to get any work done? I try so hard. No I don’t. I have no motivation and I am tired all the time. A man walks past with a cane. He is younger than me. WHy does he have a cane. What happened? What do people think about me with my leg brace and limp? Do I arouse similar questions in their minds? This whole experience has made me so much more mindful of people with disabilities and handicaps. They are no different from me now. Why even consider that they are . Yet I digress. The line ebbs and flows. People chat with the baristas, people wait silently for their coffee. In and out. Umbrellas up, umbrellas down. Come in dripping wet. Stay in to dry off. Go back out. Eastman students all preppy and dressed up carrying varing shapes and sizes of instruments. Acting like they are more important than anyone else. The elite of Gibbs street. But are they? Random thoughts. Javas sitting.

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