So much to be thankful for...

I wrote the following thank you for our local papers, but I wanted to also extend my thanks to everyone who doesn't receive one of these papers.

Our guest speaker at church this past Sunday spoke about “adversity” and how our faith should grow when presented with “less-than-ideal” circumstances. Honestly, I don’t know why my family was “chosen” to be victims of a head-on collision the evening of November 13th, 2009, but I know God must have a purpose for each and every one of us for Him to have spared our lives that night.

The hardest thing for me as a mother was to have no control over keeping my children safe in that moment. I guess that’s where God’s angels (whether in human or spiritual form) stepped in to help. I remember being unable to move and in terrible pain just screaming for help for my kids (Billie, age 3, and Kyleigh, age 2) and my sister’s kids (Drake, age 3, and Ella, age 5 months). My grandma was in the front passenger seat and was unable to breathe very well. My niece Ella was completely quiet, and in that situation, you desperately want to hear a screaming baby. I remember being especially fearful for her. And to see my girls and Drake screaming, crying, and so scared was extremely painful because we couldn’t move to get to them. But, as I said before, God had his “angels” helping those kids so quickly, and I thank Him for the passerbys who talked to my kids and tried to keep them as calm as possible until the emergency responders arrived. Thank you to ALL of the first responders, EMS, police, and any others involved at the accident scene for working so carefully to remove us all from the van and transport us to the hospital. And thank you to our family members, friends, and community for your prayers, calls, emails, visits, food, and child care during this extremely difficult time.

We are all on the road to recovery, and we hope it will come sooner rather than later. My grandma, Wanda Keith, had a cracked rib, punctured lung, chipped vertebrae, broken toe, and severe bruising and trauma to her entire body. She is at home now, after almost two weeks in the hospital, and is recovering still. My left hand was fractured, rib cartilage was torn and separated, and I also am still dealing with entire body pain from the severe bruising and blunt trauma. I have received physical therapy for my right leg and left shoulder, and as soon as my rib cartilage heals enough, I will begin physical therapy for my back. My daughter Billie had a broken arm, blunt trauma to her head, and severe bruising to her upper body. She had surgery the day after the wreck to have a titanium rod placed in her arm; she will have another surgery in January to have it removed. My nephew Drake had blunt trauma to his head, severe bruising to his upper body, a fractured collarbone, and had to be air-lifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital because of internal injury to nerves and muscles behind his eyes. As of now, the doctors hope his eye movement and focus will correct itself within 6 months at which time they will discuss surgery if not corrected. My daughter Kyleigh and my niece Ella were treated and released with minor bruising. Our 2 three-year-olds were in booster-seat-type car restraints, and they received much more injury than our 2 younger children who were in 5-point harness systems. After this accident, we found a 5-point harness car restraint that works for children up to 65 pounds; the cost difference is no match for your child’s life. I urge all parents to check into this type of seat for your child.

Thank you again for all the prayers for our family, and we ask for continued prayers for our physical and emotional healing.

And a further update from when this was published: Billie had surgery 2 weeks ago to have the rod in her arm removed. It was a traumatic experience, once again, but we made it through. We were not allowed to go back with her as she received anesthesia. The nurse carried her away from us kicking and screaming. So, naturally, I left out bawling too. And then, all the anger I had towards this whole situation returned. That is something I am still struggling with...my anger towards the responsible party. I don't like feeling this way, but others have reassured me that my feelings are natural and, with time, I should be able to forgive. I'm receiving physical therapy twice a week, and it seems to be helping. My biggest obstacle right now is driving. I am so nervous behind the wheel, and I've already had two instances where drivers were over the line coming towards me. All I can do is pray that God will keep us safe and that I will eventually feel comfortable driving again. But, I ask everyone reading this to please be mindful when driving. It's so easy to glance to the side of the road for just a second and cross the line or think you can text or talk on the phone and it not interfere with your attention to the road or drink and drive. There are many other examples that can divert your attention from driving safely. Please be careful.

Drake's eyes are still being examined and are showing a little improvement, but they're still not healed. My grandma is still getting around slowly and is receiving treatment for her back and foot.

Here's my sweet girl still with a smile on her face right after she was released from the hospital.

And, in the middle of all this chaos, my mom managed to potty-train Kyleigh in a day. Ha!