Who am I?

My name is Colette Williamson. I am getting use to my last name, seeing as I was recently married in August. All of the ID's I carry are still branded with Methot. But according to my social security card, I am a Williamson.

Recently, I have taken up skiing. I have resigned from my one day of snowboarding and moved to another snow venture. I am going skiing for the third time, ever, tomorrow and I am very excited.

When I was 17 I went snowboarding for the first and last time. The day started great but ended tragically. As a never before snowboarder I thought I was doing awesome but by the end of the day I had no room to talk. I had made my way into an ambulance, helicopter and an ICU room. Needless to say awesome is not the right word to describe my snowboarding skills.

In a lot of ways this moment defined part of who I am. I am a survivor. A week after my return from the hospital an ambulance worker called asking how I was doing. He said that in his 17 years of working as a paramedic he had only called 3 other families to ask how the injured party was doing (aka: are they still alive?). I feel lucky to be alive.

Life is a fragile thing for me. It is hard to get caught up on all the nitty gritty details when there is so much to appreciate in life. I feel as though I am an optimist. I would be a lier if I said that I was always optimistic but I try, and that is what matters.

In my life I have had a lot of moments that define me. When I was 22 I was driving along and a rush of extraordinary confidence came over me. Why you ask? Because I can do hard things.

I had the chance to serve a mission for my church. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, ever. Everyday I woke up and faced the world. A world of rejection, people saying mean things, and an occasional egg being tossed at me. But despite all of the hard moments it was one of the most rewarding, happy, exciting times in my life.

Regardless of all the challenging days and opposition I am deeply indebted to this experience. Never will I be able to put words together to describe this life altering experience. Even though there were hard days, there were also days that I wish would never end. This experience has changed me in countless ways. I no longer fear experiences because not much in this world is harder than serving a mission.

These stories may give you more of an idea of the person I am today. To define myself more: I am an east coaster, a celtics fan, a city lover, a reader, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a Saab driver, a sale finder, a mormon, an adventurer, a mac user, a snowshoer, a traveler, a closet country music fan, a photographer, a mint oreo enthusiast, a skeet shooter, a Nantucketer, and the list goes on.