Coping with the unexpected

By Linda Scott GalokPrint Story | Email Story
Jess Kielman, right, performs a Tarot card reading for her partner, Gayle Andrew. (Photo By Linda Scott Galok)
PITTSFIELD — “Being psychic doesn’t mean I can predict the future,” one of Berkshire County’s well-known psychics, Jess Kielman, said during a recent interview. “I can only tell you what MAY happen — what WILL happen is up to each individual.” Like a doctor who rarely takes time to check her own pulse, Kielman admits she doesn’t take much time for her own Tarot readings, except for occasionally asking her cards, “Can we afford a plumber this week or how can I make money more efficiently this year?” One quick personal reading in spring 2001 turned up a reversed devil card for the month of June. Although the cards’ negative reading indicated that something really difficult could happen, Kielman, who knew she would be on vacation in Cape Cod that month, said she didn’t pause to consider the negatives, instead thinking she would be spending time resting and reflecting. And so she did not predict the turn her life was about to take on a Sunday afternoon a week later. Things had not been easy to begin with for Kielman or her family that year. Her partner of 11 years, Gayle Andrew, was still recovering from a cancerous tumor in her right hand. Andrew’s ex-husband was battling a serious health problem of his own, and their children, Devin and Rebecca, were both having a hard time in school because of the stress and resultant turmoil in their daily routines, Kielman said. While she was filling in for a coworker at Canyon Ranch that Sunday afternoon, she said, Andrew was home in Pittsfield with Devin, then age 12, helping him study for finals, when they realized his French book was still at school. They decided it was a good time to take a break and go pick up his book at school in Williamstown. Kielman said the house was empty when she got home. She called Andrew’s mother to check in, but Gayle and Devin had not been there. Kielman said she was not worried until the phone rang. The Williamstown Police Department was calling. There had been a three-car accident on Route 7 in front of the state Highway Department Garage. There were multiple and serious injuries. The two people most seriously injured were Gayle Andrew and her son, Devin Shea. Kielman said she ran for her car in a panic to get to the emergency room of Berkshire Medical Center. “We were all where we needed to be that day,” she recalled. “If I had been home, I would have gone along for the ride, and Devin would have been in the backseat, which was ripped from the front and destroyed by the impact of the crash. I don’t think he would have survived it.” The emergency workers broke the passenger side window to remove Devin from the car, but he shrugged them off, refusing to move until he knew they were taking care of his mother. He lay on a stretcher by the ambulance, with 10 broken bones, but begged the EMTs to let him stay until they had gotten his mother out of the car. Kielman related that, in BMC’s emergency room, separated by a curtain — Andrew frequently losing consciousness, and doctors and nurses working over them both — Andrew and her son continually called out to one another, checking in to ask, “Are you okay? I’m okay,” never losing their connection of simple words of love and encouragement. Andrew, a professional acupressure therapist, had 123 breaks and fractures. She had broken bones in both hands, arms and legs; her hip was crushed, her femur shattered and the steering wheel had punctured a lung. The most extensive damage was to her right knee and foot, as she had instinctively tried to stop both her Ford Taurus and the Dodge Dakota truck that hit her head-on. Two sets of Jaws of Life used in tandem, helped extricate Andrew from the car. BMC admitted Devin, while Life Flight airlifted Andrew to Albany Medical Center. Kielman remembered trying to “multi-task, spiritually,” during that traumatic time. ”It really challenges your world view,” she said. “I heard myself tell Gayle, ‘You have to live!’ But then I would think, ‘What if it’s her destiny to die? What if that’s what she wants or needs on a soul level?’” So, she said she tried to prepare herself for either outcome. Andrew was in a drug-induced coma for three weeks, and the doctors were unable to predict the outcome. Held together with titanium pins, plaster casts and pain medication, Andrew later said she couldn’t imagine how it was possible to “feel so broken and still be alive.” Months later at Laurel Lake Nursing Home, she asked a nurse if a person could die from crying. When a doctor told her she would never walk again, Andrew found that unacceptable and knew her only alternative was to work toward healing, no matter how much it hurt. She recalled one of her toughest physical therapy sessions during a month’s stay at Spaulding Rehab in Boston. She baked chocolate chip cookies in order to start regaining the use of her hands. Bones were still healing, more surgery loomed, and standing up was still impossible. Her grip was weak, her hands trembled and twitched, and frustration and pain battled for attention. The measurements inexact, flour scattered on the floor, the batter perhaps a bit too salty, she persevered for more than two hours. Those cookies were for Devin, she said, and he ate every one. More than three years, 10 surgeries, hundreds of thousands of dollars and immeasurable hours of pain and physical therapy later, Andrew will need more surgery, still tires easily and needs to use her wheelchair at the end of many days. She may never fully recover from her injuries but she said she can’t fathom giving up. The whole family still suffers from post-traumatic stress, jumping at loud noises, which can be comical at times because, Kielman said, “Gayle tends to get excited over small things and shouts out when she sees a humming bird, bringing us all running to make sure she’s all right.” Andrew said, ”Jess put a bird feeder outside my window at the nursing home. It was good Feng Shui — something living to watch — the tough guys, the love stories. It was probably one of the smartest emotional things she could have done for me.” Although the experience has drained Kielman and Andrew, as well as their families, of time, money and emotion, they agreed they have grown from it. They said they are thankful for every well of prayers, support and help from family, friends and all the professionals they met. Climbing the stairs of their two-story house was impossible for Andrew, even with a friend’s borrowed rock climbing equipment. “That didn’t work but it was a hoot,” she said, laughing with Kielman. They needed a stair lift, but there was little insurance money from the accident and they couldn’t afford the equipment or the installation. Friends decided to have a tag sale to raise the money. Lynne Soldato, owner of Zucchini’s Restaurant on Route 7 in Pittsfield and Pasta’s on Route 8 in Cheshire, donated Zucchini’s parking lot and provided a considerable amount of food. Tailored Rental gave them a tent; local businesses donated things for a raffle, and one couple, planning their own tag sale, heard about the fundraiser and loaded their truck with all their own things, donating them to Kielman and Andrew to help them raise the money. “People came to buy things from us and brought their own things back so we could sell them. We had 15 helpers by the end of the day,” Kielman said. They raised enough money for the stair lift and had enough left over to build a wooden walkway so Andrew could get to their garden. When they were trying to find an inexpensive wheelchair, the United Cerebral Palsy Association, a national non-profit with offices on West Street in Pittsfield, stepped in with one to use “for as long as we needed it,” Kielman said. “They are wonderful, kind, and just there for everyone, even helping you find whatever they don’t provide.” All their experiences weren’t positive, of course, and psychic ability isn’t necessary to see that life will always hold special challenges for this family. “Government assistance programs don’t always assist; people don’t always tell the truth; some businesses care more about money than people, and, as hard as the staff might try, nursing homes can be badly understaffed and overworked,” Kielman said. Andrew can’t presently use her skills as an acupressure therapist to earn a living, but she and Kielman still offer Feng Shui lectures at Canyon Ranch. Andrew has learned to make beautiful jewelry, sun catchers, door hangers and dowsers, utilizing the art of Feng Shui. “I had to be in bed for several months after every surgery, and there is only so much television a person can tolerate. Jess built a tower on wheels for all my beads and supplies,” Andrew said. Two weeks ago, Andrew drove a car for the first time in almost four years, and she was gleeful when she talked about using snowshoes the past weekend, although she wasn’t able to go more than twice around the house and “needed a two day nap afterward.” “She can’t do the grocery shopping yet,” Kielman said, “but she can drive me to the store.” Kielman admitted she still doesn’t take time to tune in to herself and her own life’s possibilities. “Laundry, meals, making a living and taking out the garbage — all seem to use up the day.” “When get extra stressed and irritable, we know we have to stop and take time for ourselves and each other,” Andrew said. Kielman offers free Tarot readings at 8 a.m. the last Tuesday of every month with a call-in segment on WUPE radio station, 95.9 FM in Pittsfield, and has recently taught classes in Tarot and astrology through Berkshire Community College. Kielman and Andrew may be contacted at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, as well as through their Web site, www.berkshirefengshuiarts.com. With their little free time left at the end of every day, they are also writing a book, “Accidental Journey,” about the accident and their experiences along the road to recovery. It will include interviews with the people involved in the accident, rescue and recovery, what they did, how they felt and if and how it changed them in profound or simple ways. It will also include information about practical ways of dealing with the human side of the aftermath of trauma. The inspiration for the book came from the lack of resources for victims of trauma. They hope their book will help others by shedding light on what can be a long, dark road.
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Dalton Green Committee Recommends Consultant for Action Plan

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Green Committee overwhelmingly recommended having Blue Strike Environmental as the town's consultant for its Climate Action Plan during its meeting on Monday. 
 
The town issued a request for proposals on March 27 and received two responses: one from Blue Strike Environmental, a Monterey, Calif., company, and the other from Capsus, an international firm based in Mexico. 
 
The committee wants to develop a climate action plan to achieve net zero by 2050 by seeking strategies to decrease the town's dependence on fossil fuels for homes, businesses, municipal facilities, and vehicles. 
 
The plan should be detailed enough, so the town knows what it needs to do and the timing to complete each subproject on time, the request for proposals said. 
 
During the meeting, committee members numerically rated the consulting firms based on the following categories: relevant experience, staffing plan and methodology, ability to complete projects on time, and proposed plan evaluation. Bluestrike's rating was four times higher across all criteria. 
 
Now that the committee has rated the second part of the bidding process, the bidders will submit the estimated cost of the project. 
 
The contract will be awarded to the firm offering the most "advantageous proposal" that takes into consideration all evaluation criteria and price. 
 
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