Monday, May 19, 2008
God's Hand of Protection
Last Friday, May 16, 2008, Steven, Ryan, and I were involved in a car accident. I really can't tell you what happened for sure, but my impression is that we had another vehicle make a blind left turn across our lane. I do know that we hit that vehicle in both of the passenger side doors. The other car spun around and narrowly missed hitting another vehicle, and ended up facing me diagonally. The other driver was ticketed for the accident. There was a semi in the left lane waiting to make a left turn. I was in the right lane and did not see the vehicle at all, until right before I hit it. The semi was blocking my view of oncoming traffic, which means that the other driver's view was blocked as well. The accident happened at the same intersection where we turn to go to our church building. No connection - we were not coming or going to/from church, but that's where it happened.
The boys had participated in Stanford Achievement Tests Friday morning; I was a proctor, so I was also there. Afterwards, we ran several errands, the bulk of which involved grocery shopping. We had Chris' car, because the Civic was due for an oil change. We were done with our other errands, and were on our way to our mechanic's shop for the oil change, when we were stopped cold in our tracks.
There was a semi-truck driver that stopped to help us - he took care of calling 911 and directing traffic around me, since I couldn't move my car out of the lane. He also called my neighbor to arrange to have her get Andrew off his school bus for me. He was great. I was able to call him the next day and thank him. I thought this man was the one driving the semi that the accident happened by, but he was actually behind that semi.
The passenger side front door would not open - the back door opened though, thankfully, because I was able to get to my hysterical Ryan. Steven held it together pretty well at the scene, while Ryan got it all out. Over the course of the weekend, Steven did a lot of talking through the course of events.
The paramedics and police came. The paramedics checked out Ryan especially, since he couldn't stop crying. He had no idea that his seatbelt would hold him that tightly. I tried to explain that it did its job, and that he was safe because of that. I declined to have any of us taken to the hospital. We monitored everyone as the evening wore on, and I think we're all fine.
Steven was upset because I had an abrasion on my face from the airbag and there was just a little blood. He was also upset that the car was broken. I explained to him that it was just a "thing," and that I was thankful that he wasn't broken. The car could be replaced, but there is no replacement for my precious boys!!!!
I couldn't get a hold of Chris on his cell or at his desk, so for the first time ever, I had to have him paged. It took two tries, and an alert co-worker who knew Chris was in a meeting, to get a hold of him. He knew instantly what was wrong, and only had to ask how bad it was when he got on the phone with me. He left work immediately to come get us.
Because the boys were so upset, I called our friend Wilbur to come pick them up. Wilbur came right away to get them, and also took my groceries away, since I knew that my car was going to have to be towed. I am so thankful to have wonderful friends that we can call on in time of need.
Right after the accident happened, a man came running, from a nearby restaurant I believe, to find out if we were ok - he helped me locate my cell phone that had fallen on the floor of the front seat, and made sure that the boys were ok. I never saw him again, but I was thankful for his concern. Later, after the other car had left, and things were calming down, I had a lady stop and ask if I needed a ride. I am just thankful for strangers that took the time to help or offer help. The police officer stayed with me until Chris could arrive to pick me up.
Besides the minor bumps, bruises, and burns, and the brokenness of our car, the only other casualties of our accident were one broken can of pop, and a dent in my laptop. We threw the pop away, and my laptop has been working just fine.
God's Hand of protection was on Steven, Ryan, and me. The seatbelts held, airbags deployed, and metal crumpled where it was supposed to. The accident was a lot scarier to the three of us than the damage that shows in these pictures.
For some reason, I rolled down the passenger side window. I don't know if I did it when the airbags started smoking, or to talk to someone, I'm really not sure. It was a detail that I remembered this morning, actually. Another detail that occurred to me later was that I was wearing sunglasses while I was driving, but I didn't remember having them on later. I found them today when I stopped by to take pictures - they were on the floor. Also while I was there today taking pictures, we were going to put the window back up, but the battery was dead, so we couldn't.
The Civic had to be towed. The other car was drivable, even though both of the passenger doors were pretty crumpled.
Here you see the driver's side airbag.
The only lingering injury, thankfully! I received friction burns on both of my hands from the airbag deploying. The minor bumps and abrasions on my face and neck have pretty much disappeared already. At least you know I wasn't talking on a cell phone when the accident occurred, since there are burns on both hands; and I was not shifting at the time either. Of course, I wouldn't be able to tell you what gear I was in. That's one of the many details that eludes me.
My three precious boys two days after the accident. Thankfully Andrew was at school when the accident happened. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if all three of them had been with me.
The boys had participated in Stanford Achievement Tests Friday morning; I was a proctor, so I was also there. Afterwards, we ran several errands, the bulk of which involved grocery shopping. We had Chris' car, because the Civic was due for an oil change. We were done with our other errands, and were on our way to our mechanic's shop for the oil change, when we were stopped cold in our tracks.
There was a semi-truck driver that stopped to help us - he took care of calling 911 and directing traffic around me, since I couldn't move my car out of the lane. He also called my neighbor to arrange to have her get Andrew off his school bus for me. He was great. I was able to call him the next day and thank him. I thought this man was the one driving the semi that the accident happened by, but he was actually behind that semi.
The passenger side front door would not open - the back door opened though, thankfully, because I was able to get to my hysterical Ryan. Steven held it together pretty well at the scene, while Ryan got it all out. Over the course of the weekend, Steven did a lot of talking through the course of events.
The paramedics and police came. The paramedics checked out Ryan especially, since he couldn't stop crying. He had no idea that his seatbelt would hold him that tightly. I tried to explain that it did its job, and that he was safe because of that. I declined to have any of us taken to the hospital. We monitored everyone as the evening wore on, and I think we're all fine.
Steven was upset because I had an abrasion on my face from the airbag and there was just a little blood. He was also upset that the car was broken. I explained to him that it was just a "thing," and that I was thankful that he wasn't broken. The car could be replaced, but there is no replacement for my precious boys!!!!
I couldn't get a hold of Chris on his cell or at his desk, so for the first time ever, I had to have him paged. It took two tries, and an alert co-worker who knew Chris was in a meeting, to get a hold of him. He knew instantly what was wrong, and only had to ask how bad it was when he got on the phone with me. He left work immediately to come get us.
Because the boys were so upset, I called our friend Wilbur to come pick them up. Wilbur came right away to get them, and also took my groceries away, since I knew that my car was going to have to be towed. I am so thankful to have wonderful friends that we can call on in time of need.
Right after the accident happened, a man came running, from a nearby restaurant I believe, to find out if we were ok - he helped me locate my cell phone that had fallen on the floor of the front seat, and made sure that the boys were ok. I never saw him again, but I was thankful for his concern. Later, after the other car had left, and things were calming down, I had a lady stop and ask if I needed a ride. I am just thankful for strangers that took the time to help or offer help. The police officer stayed with me until Chris could arrive to pick me up.
Besides the minor bumps, bruises, and burns, and the brokenness of our car, the only other casualties of our accident were one broken can of pop, and a dent in my laptop. We threw the pop away, and my laptop has been working just fine.
God's Hand of protection was on Steven, Ryan, and me. The seatbelts held, airbags deployed, and metal crumpled where it was supposed to. The accident was a lot scarier to the three of us than the damage that shows in these pictures.
For some reason, I rolled down the passenger side window. I don't know if I did it when the airbags started smoking, or to talk to someone, I'm really not sure. It was a detail that I remembered this morning, actually. Another detail that occurred to me later was that I was wearing sunglasses while I was driving, but I didn't remember having them on later. I found them today when I stopped by to take pictures - they were on the floor. Also while I was there today taking pictures, we were going to put the window back up, but the battery was dead, so we couldn't.
The Civic had to be towed. The other car was drivable, even though both of the passenger doors were pretty crumpled.
Here you see the driver's side airbag.
The only lingering injury, thankfully! I received friction burns on both of my hands from the airbag deploying. The minor bumps and abrasions on my face and neck have pretty much disappeared already. At least you know I wasn't talking on a cell phone when the accident occurred, since there are burns on both hands; and I was not shifting at the time either. Of course, I wouldn't be able to tell you what gear I was in. That's one of the many details that eludes me.
My three precious boys two days after the accident. Thankfully Andrew was at school when the accident happened. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if all three of them had been with me.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Cousins Squished on the Couch
Sorry - I stole this picture from either my aunt or my cousin, but I just came across it and wanted to add another cousins squished on the couch picture to my blog. It's from Easter at my grandparents' house - Val was here from Boston, Jon was here from Streamwood, IL, and Ben, Ashley, and Cooper were here from Kansas. It was the first time we got to meet Cooper. (Val, Jon, and Ben are all siblings).
Arizona
Chris took me away on a trip to Arizona at the end of April. We had planned this trip for months, but only Chris knew the destination -- that part was a surprise for me. We worked out with our parents to watch our kids over the weekend, and we were able to be away for four days together. We packed a lot into those days (really only two days of site-seeing), and just had a fabulous time reconnecting as a couple. Here is a link to our pictures if you are interested in taking a look.
When You Have a Squirrelly Dad...
This picture isn't entirely accurate...The day I found this "decoration," I still had all my snowmen decorations out. I had a friend over, and we were just hanging out in my living room - apparently something I don't do often enough, because all of a sudden I noticed something different on the shelf. I speculated where it could have possibly come from. I should have suspected my dad, but for some reason, I didn't. Sneaky! I think it was there for a couple of weeks before I even noticed it!
Close-up of this gem of a decoration!
Family Photo
May 2008 - the last family photo we took was
four years ago. It's about time!!!
It's Spring!
We have baby robins on top of our swing set -
they've already hatched. We can watch the nest
from our big window in our living room.
We also have a nest in one of our front bushes.
It's just so cool! And we had a little bunny nest
on the side of our house, but they abandoned it
Sunday amidst all the rain that we had. Hopefully
they found better shelter.
Just a Regular Day
Andrew played a little in the yard today
while we waited for the bus to come.
He can get on the bus all by himself nowadays!
Sara kind of pushed him back so that I could
take his picture. :)
It's Finally Andrew's Turn
Finally Andrew gets a turn to ride the lawn tractor with Dad!
This is my scrapbook blog. It has been designed this way because our children grow so quickly, and we just want to be able to chronicle their changes. I am not a writer, so you will not find any profound writing pieces on this blog; but I do like to take pictures and share them with family and friends.
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