Taking Note of the "What Ifs'

A year ago today at 6:01 PM, while on our way to church, Mattie May, Katie and I were hit by a drunk driver. You can read about it here. In this post, I talked about the what ifs that I had then. I still have them, lots of them. And when I see a report about a wreck caused by drunk driving, I get them all over again. This scripture will always remind me how blessed we are to have had only bruising and soreness. There are so many others that had so much worse. It is almost always so much worse.

We still can't drive through that intersection that Mattie May doesn't remind us that it's where the crazy lady hit us. We asked her this morning if she knew today it had been a year that we had been in that wreck and she reminded us that we were going to church to eat lasagna and cake. She still remembers.

I am too lazy to go back and check if I ever posted the girls blood alcohol level. In Texas, the limit is .08. She registered a .38! If you don't know, .40 is alcohol poisoning! From the time I saw her car, I knew she never tried to stop. I thought maybe she had reached for her cell phone, but I will always believe now that she was completely passed out. Her blood was almost 50% liqueur!

So just a reminder to everyone, please don't drink and drive. Don't let anyone drink and drive. It really isn't worth it.

God Bless

The Excitement Continues

Well Christmas has come and gone and we had a great time. I hope to get some pictures up this week but I'm not sure that is going to happen. The excitement continues around our house as we get ready for Mattie May's birthday trip. I can't believe how close it is! Look at our countdown calendar in the right side bar. It has gone from over a year to just days! Mattie May reminds us daily how many more days we have so I really don't need that calendar! LOL

We have already started packing and getting things together for the trip. Last night Mattie May packed her backpack. Such a smart girl, she asked her mom for a spare set of clothes in case hers get dirty! I promise, no prompting from any of the adults in the house. She did that all on her own!

I have been looking back at my little blog post from this past year. There have been not nearly enough. Call it a resolution if you want, but I am going to try hard this coming year to post each day. Even if it is just a short one to remind me that life is great and everyone is happy. 2010 started out great, but before the first month was over, things went downhill. It has been a difficult year, with so much of it being focused on that wreck. We never thought it would be that time consuming, but it was a major focus through about mid year. We then started trying to focus on our trip, but Mattie May started school, soccer and karate and our focus was changed again.

Frank had knee surgery in August, and much of my time went to that. Not that he couldn't do things for himself (he walked out of the clinic by himself!), it was that I just kept worrying about his recovery. That's just the way I am.

So now with the holidays mostly behind us, we can get ready to go. 2011 is going to be a great year and we plan on starting it off with a bang. There will be many firsts to report on this trip, for all four of us. Starting with Mattie May's first ride on an airplane! That should be fun.

This is the first time that any of us have been to Disney! Frank said he plans on being a big kid! I don't know why he thinks that is any different than what he usually is, but we are definitely going to have a great time.

Just in case I don't get back here until we get back, I wish you all safe and blessed new year! 2011 is going to be great!

Update

I just looked at my last post and realized it has been two weeks since I have given an update on the wreck.

Mattie May is doing great. She was checked out by both our chiropractor and family physician. They both believe she is fine, although our family physician wants us to watch for any changes in her personality. He said we would really be surprised at how a wreck like that can change a child. So far we believe she is acting like any normal four year old.

Katie and I are healing. We are still going to the chiropractor and I start actual rehab this week. She is still in her soft brace but I got to take off that so very uncomfortable collar. I still have it but hope I never have to use it again. I also had a MRI on my head due to some headaches and blurred vision. That came back good. Dr. said I had a normal human brain, Frank is asking for a second opinion. CT scan on my abdomen turned out not so good. I have been having some pain right where the seat belt buckles. I found out I have gall stones and they have been irritated from the wreck. So another test on Friday to make sure my gall bladder is working properly and we will go from what they find as to what the next step will be.

Our fishing season started this past Saturday and I had to miss it. The doctor just doesn't want me in the boat right now. It is rough enough on a healthy body and it would not be good to get bounced around out there right now. The weather was cold and windy so I don't know that I would have gone anyway, but it would have been nice if I was the one making that decision, not the driver that rear ended me!

The insurance company has given us the amount for the auto settlement. We are still looking it over. I am still in the process of looking for a new auto. It just gets very depressing. I was almost finished paying for that one and now, through no fault or choice of my own, I have to start payments all over again! One thing Frank and I have definitely agreed on is no more red vehicles! We just don't have any luck with those. I will say, this one definitely preformed well, protecting the passengers in that wreck. I am so thankful that God has provided us the means to afford such safe autos!

We do have news on the driver of the other vehicle, but just don't feel the need to share that right now. Let's just say it really didn't make me happy! But I am still praying for her daily and ask that you do the same. I would really like to see her come to Christ and overcome her demons that allows her to make the poor choices she is making!

I thank all of you for your prayers since the wreck. I am so blessed to have family and friends that are always concerned about others. Blessings to you all!

Jeremiah 29:11

If I set up my post option correctly, this will post 6:01 PM on Wednesday January 27. That will be exactly one week to the minute that the 911 call was placed to APD that we had been in a car accident. The fire department arrived while Katie was still on the phone. At that point Katie and I were still desperately trying to get Mattie May out of the back seat. She was scared and crying like she had never cried before. She wanted someone to hold her. The doors wouldn't open. But once Lolo remembered that only her door unlocks when the vehicle was put in park, we were able to get to her and calm her. We were not able to hold her because AFD wanted her to remain in her car seat just in case there were injuries that we couldn't see.

Still at this point, Katie and I were so dazed we really didn't understand what had happened. What did happen? I managed to get Frank on the phone and tell him we had been in a wreck. Even though he was four hours away, he had to know and know right then. We were on one of the main streets of town right at one of the busiest intersections. I didn't want someone to see us, then call him and scare him. That was my job!

What had happened? I had hit the car in front of me, but why? The damage to the back of his suburban wasn't too bad. The front of my Yukon was a bit worse. I was stopped at a red light, my foot firmly on the brake. How could I have hit the person in front of me? An airman still in his fatigues stuck his head in the passenger side door and asked if we were all OK. I told him we were but that I had not been able to ask the person in front of me if they were OK. That's when he told me that he was that person and he was fine but that he was going to check on the girl in the car behind me. Behind me? That was the first time I saw her car, a Dodge Challenger.

That is not a very big car. How on earth did she hit me so hard.

About that time is when the police officer put his head in the front passenger door and asked if I was OK. Again, I told him yes. His response startled me, "Ma'am, you have just been hit by a drunk driver, are you sure everyone is OK?"

What? It was 6:00 in the evening. Someone was already drunk? Is that really possible? I try to be a rational person after a wreck. Unfortunately, I have been in a few. Nothing more really than minor fender benders. This person was drunk? All of the sudden I got mad, very mad.

I have had a week to think about the events of that night. We were on our way to church. Mattie May was so happy because we were going to have lasagna at Manna and More. It would be the first one we went to since the Christmas and New Year breaks. We would get to visit with our friends, our church family that we love so much. Then Mattie May would go to Bible class and Katie and I would go to HIP together for the first time in a long time. Katie had been teaching class on Wednesday nights and I had been going to HIP by myself.

This past week I have been thinking about scripture. Mainly focusing on Jeremiah 29:11. I am not good at remembering scripture. I think of a passage, but I usually don't know what book or chapter it is in. Or I will see a scripture listed and have to look it up to know what it says. But I am good at finding it. I knew this passage, but had to look it up to see where it was. Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

So, why us? Why were we in this wreck, a horrible wreck? Because of Jeremiah 29:11. He has plans. Not just for me, but for all of us. All of us that were involved in that wreck. All of you that are reading my little blog. All of those you find a reason tell my story to. It may take us time to figure out the plans He has. We may never figure it out. My grandmother will soon be 94 and she says she is still trying to figure out what he plans for her and why she is still here in her earthly home. But He does have plans! Great plans!

This past week I have had many people ask me about the wreck, especially since I have my pretty new collar. Almost everyone I tell my story to usually has a story too, about themselves, a friend or family that was in an "accident" with a drunk driver. And I have discovered something, nobody ever walks away. Their stories are always of devastating injuries or death. I have not been told a single story where all the persons involved walked away.

This wreck has been constantly on my mind the past week, whether it is thinking of my aches and pains, going over insurance papers, or just going through my mind trying to figure out if there was anything I could have done to have avoided the entire mess, it has been there. I realized last night that I have been able to share God's love for us through this story. Was that His plan? Maybe. Maybe not. It is not for me to question.

I told you I have never been good at remembering scripture. I think I have allowed this to keep me from sharing God's word with others. But not any more. I am not afraid anymore! I can use the events of last week to show how much he cares, how much He loves us. How He kept us safe in that wreck.

I Hurt and I am so Happy

It has not been 48 hours since my wreck and the soreness has finally decided to set in. Oh it hurts. It hurts the most in my neck. I have a call into my doctor to check me out. I didn't think I was going to be able to get out of bed this morning, but I did. It hurt but I managed to start moving around. It just worries me to be so bad in my neck.

My knees hurt. They hurt when I bend them. Especially the left one. That's the leg that is bruised. The ER doctor said it was a very deep bruise. That's why he did the x-ray on my leg to make sure there was no other damage. It hurts when the muscle pulls.

This morning I can feel where the seat-belt held onto my shoulder. No bruising, just soreness and tenderness. It hurts to lift my left arm. I am sure all of this is normal but it hurts (and I'm a wimp!).

I am so happy and thankful that I can feel the hurt. It means we survived being hit by a drunk driver. I keep saying we are so lucky, but I know luck had nothing to do with it. I think of all the little things - What if I had been an inch closer to the vehicle in front of me? What if we had been in a smaller car? What if she had been in a bigger car? What if we had not buckled up properly? What if we had given in and let Mattie May move into a booster seat instead of insisting she stay in her car seat?

Yes, I know luck had nothing to do with it. God protected us. He was with us. Just like we protect our children, He was there protecting us, His children. He kept us safe.

When I think of all the little things, I am so happy I can feel this hurt!

God is my Copilot!

I hear about it every day. I am so sad when someone dies from it. I get angry that someone makes such a poor choice. They make the choice to risk others lives, to change their lives forever. I'm talking about drunk driving.

So many innocent lives have been lost because of the terrible crime. I do understand that poor choices are made when people are under the influence. But how can someone be so selfish to make this choice? Please don't misunderstand me. Don't think that I am condemning people that drink. I most certainly am not. I have a drink every now and again. That's OK. But to make the choice to get behind the wheel of an automobile in that condition is just senseless.

The last wreck I had, the police officers and firemen kept commenting to me how calm I was. They kept repeating that I was being so kind to the woman who had just run a red light and put my car out of commission. I told them I knew it was an accident. She didn't wake up that mourning and think to herself "hum, I think I will have a wreck today." She got up to go to work just like I did. We had an accident. That wasn't the case today. Today someone made a horrible choice to get behind the wheel after having a drink. She chose to put everyone on the road in danger. She chose to make her auto a weapon.

I know how lucky I am. I know how blessed we are that all three (five if you include all those involved) of us were able to walk away without any assistance. I know God was in my Yukon with us, holding on to each of us as the vehicle was slammed from the rear and forced to hit the Suburban in front of us. I am so very thankful that I had so many of my family right there and ready to help us out.

We were on our way to Church, going early to go to Manna & More to have lasagna. Cake for dessert. Then Mattie May was going to bible class and Katie and I were going to HIP. I love Wednesday nights. HIP is my midweek pick-me-up! We were talking and laughing. This was a good day!

God is my copilot. I know because we all are safe. Sore but safe. I can do so many things that other victims of drunk drives can't. I got to call Frank and tell him my car was crashed. I GOT TO CALL HIM. I am sore from being jostled around in the car. I AM SORE. I got to wrap my arms around Mattie May and tell her everything was going to be OK. I GOT TO HUG MATTIE MAY. Katie rode in an ambulance to the hospital because her back was hurting. HER BACK WAS HURTING. I got to walk around the cars to look at all the damage. I GOT TO WALK.

I GOT TO CALL FRANK.

I AM SORE.

I GOT TO HUG MATTIE MAY.

HER BACK HURTS.

I GOT TO WALK.

Those are all simple things, things I sometimes take for granite, things that are all so simple, things that are daily blessings. So many people don't get to do these things after being in an accident. Anything could have been just a little bit different and the outcome could have been devastating. I thank God that we are all OK.

I am angry with the girl. Angry that she put my family at risk. Angry that she wrecked my car.

But I am still sad for her. Because of one small choice she made, her life is changed. There is no going back. No do overs! I pray for her for many different things. I pray that she had someone to call when they took her to jail. I pray that she has a loved one she can hug when she realizes how many things could have been different. I pray that this is her first offense and that she learned her lesson. I pray that she never does this again.

We all went to the hospital to be check out and we are all OK. Sore but OK. And I must be getting over my made. I keep thinking of her in that jail cell. I keep thinking that she must be grieving over making such a poor choice. I keep thinking of how sore she must be and uncomfortable she will be on that yucky bed tonight. But we are all alive. All because God is my copilot and He watches out for us.