If there was anything Kate Puck had learned about herself throughout her life, it had to have been the fact that she always got what she wanted. While some may have considered it selfish, she never once questioned it.
At a very young age, Kate was taught to follow her dreams, which in turn led her to "grab the bull by its balls.". And she did. It just so happened that that small characteristic she was proud of having, that tiny bit of drive and motivation that pushed her through life was what caught the eye of Keith Weilman. It did not take any time at all for the sparks to fly between the two teens. Kate's and Keith's coartship escalated rapidly, and just as quickly, the talk of getting married and starting a family rolled off their tongues.
Shortly after Keith had the priviledge of placing a ring on her finger and calling Kate his lawfully wedded wife, the reality of everything started sttling in. They may have been young, and they may have been told they were crazy, but the only thing that mattered to them was that their hearts continued to scream each others names.
Numerous dark clouds surrounded the two story Pennsylvania home. Kate's shrieking screams wound their way up the staircase, raced down the hallway, and eventually crashed into the four walls of their bedroom. Keith watched Kate's knuckled turn a ghostly white as she squeezed the blood from his hand. The heavy panting seemed to drag on forever; Kate felt like giving up all together. Right as she was about to practically pull the plug on everything right then, the doctor finally announced the arrival of their beautiful baby boy.
"Boys will be boys!" Each time that those particular words fell off of Kate's lips, her mind wandered to the person who invented that saying. Whoever said it first clearly didn't have Eliott Weilman in mind.
Before Eliott was able to walk and talk, he had developed an attitude that most young boys his age are known for. Knowing how to think as well as stick up for himself had never striked a problem for him. In other words, he marched to the beat of his own drum.
The last thing the Weilman's had planned upon was to allow their son's spirit to be shattered, so disciplining Eliott was not as easy as they both originally imagined it to be.
His mouth [admittedly] got him into trouble on more than one occasion. It was as if every time they turned around, they were being called into the principal’s office to discuss his ongoing behavior. As much as they didn’t want to believe it, he was a terror and there wasn’t really anything they could do.
Kate and Keith could not help but hope that as the years passed and as Eliott had gotten older, his moral compass would miraculously change directions, and that he would grow into the polite young man they had had hoped he would be.
Time finally came to a startling halt when one of Eliott’s teachers used a word that not only rattled them when it crashed against their eardrums, it killed them. ‘Expalsion’ was never written in the plans they had set in place for Eli before he was born. Then again, they were quite aware that life did not always go as planned. At that point in time, transferring schools seemed to be the only choice they had.
It was safe to arrive at the notion that surfing through schools wasn’t that much of a blast. Nothing quite fit, at first. And all of the problems Eliott had found himself having before began to resurface. Several arguments turned into several fist fightsand even those fight escalated into more severe problems that landed him in the hot seat. Most of the fights may have been the same, but once he turned thirteen, everything shifted from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.
Junvenile hall – two words, one heavy meaning. Everything was changing. Everyone was changing. Eliott was dragging himself further away from his parents, and before anything else drifted away, Keither and Kate decided to make a drastic move. They enrolled their son into boarding school.
Florida was gorgeous. The mass amount of skyscrapers as well as the huge variety of restaurants [of Pittsburgh] hadn’t any comparison to the vibrant colors and the beautiful sights of St. Petersburg.
Athough his problematic past was still a part of him, he made it a point to change. Two years ago, Eliott would have been referred to as the residential wallflower; he liked to cause trouble from a distance. If it wasn’t for his silent and discreet desparation to make his parents proud of him, fitting in would’ve still been a problem. Eliott was part of the in crowd. Manners were under his belt. Everything was right as rain.
Only things weren’t as perfect as they seemed. When Eliott was just fifteen, his mother had been feeling weak, experiencing constant fevers, night sweat, discomfort in her stomach, frequent infections, as well as noticing that she had been bleeding and bruising easily. Despite all of those symptoms, Kate remained very adamant that everything was going to be fine. When her symptoms could not be pushed away any further, she finally agreed upon seeing a doctor.
A month after the symptoms started to claim her body more and more, Kate was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Telling Eliott and Keith had to be one of the hardest things she had to do.
Hearing the words ‘leukemia’ and ‘cancer’ leave his mother’s mouth terrified him.
From the very beginning, his mother’s illness changed him. The normally outspoken and outgoing teenager was now subdued and quest; He could not bear the thought of never seeing her again. He hated seeing her sick and not being able to stand on her own two feet as she used to so effortlessly before. Desparate wished could not slide off of his tongue quick enough. Even during the brief time Kate went into remission, Eliott was still quiet and pensive. While his family celebrated and had high hopes, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that everything wasn’t all right.
Kate’s condition worsened. A year a half after the initial diagnosis, Kate Puck eventually lost her battle to leukemia.
Eliott was beyond devastated. For the rest of the time he was back in Pittsburgh, he never once managed to find the strength to leave his room, unless it was to attend the wake and funeral. He, since then, slipped further inside himself as he continued to mourn the loss of his mother.
Kate's death tore the Weilman family apart. It didn't take long for them to realize that she was the glue that held everything together, and everyone knows that once you take away the glue, everything crumbles to the floor.
Eliott saw less and less of Pittsburgh as the months vastly flew off the calendar. After while, Keith understood the reason as to why he didn't see more of his son, and he saw directly through every excuse Eliott had used to stay away. He could not exactly find a reason not to blame him. Kate had always been the support system as Keith found himself sitting back, watching life pass before him. He knew things were not great between him and his son, but the last thing he was aware of was Eliott not feeling the need to visit him, let alone wanting to share a single phone conversation.
The truth was: Eliott despised his father.
Eliott's life turned upside down after the passing of his mother. For better or for worse was something he hadn't taken the time to figure out yet. But since her death, he likes to think that his life was changed for the better.
Since day one, she told him that she believed in him and that nothing would change that. Kate had wanted him to make a name for himself, to not only be known as the boy who constantly enjoyed breaking the law.
Now every morning that he wakes up in sunny California, his mind wanders back to his mother and a big smile dances across his face.
There isn't any second guessing that sher would be proud of him. He does what he loves to do in honor of her and he knows that he would not have it any other way.