More accident photos

Accidental or providential?

The kids and I got in a car accident Friday afternoon. I'll say at the outset that we're all okay, but here are the details in case you're interested.

Jamin had met me at the Pavilion after work to take Aiden for a ride on the little train there. We were driving separately and took different routes home. I remember passing him at one point and then the next thing I knew I was in an ambulance with Jamin standing over me and Aiden and Ellie screaming somewhere around me. I didn't know where I was, where I had been going or who had been with me at the time. I remember at that point thinking that Jamin must be okay because he was standing over me and being comforted by the fact that both my children were screaming. That meant that they were at least relatively okay. I was in a neck brace and so was Aiden and I was afraid he had broken his neck, but I understood enough to know that my neck wasn't broken so maybe his neck brace was just a precautionary measure. I remember trying desperately to hold his hand.

I don't remember anything again until I was in the ER and nurses were standing over me. Jamin was with the kids so I was alone. I was given a number of x-rays, 2 CT scans and blood tests. I remember a doctor asking me if I knew where I had been before the accident. I had some vague memory of being on a little train with Elllie in my lap and Jamin and Aiden in the seat in front of me. I told him I thought that maybe I was on my way home from the park. He asked me how old I was and asked me to rem ember three things that he was going to ask me later. I remember a nurse bringing Ellie in to me. She told me Ellie was just fine but she had quite a little temper. She looked pale and tired, like she had been screaming for quite some time. I think at that point she told me that Aiden was getting stitches and Jamin was with him.

I didn't know what caused the accident or even if it was my fault until a police officer who had been on the scene of the accident came into my room. He asked me if I remember what happened and I told him I couldn't remember a thing. He said I had been traveling through an intersection when a car ran a red light and plowed into the side of our car. I don't know how fast it was going, but the driver never put on the brakes. After we hit the first time, both cars spun off and hit again in the rear bumpers then careened off in different directions. The car that hit me flew into a yard at the corner of the intersection and our car plowed into another car that was stopped at the traffic light. I was relieved to know that the accident wasn't my fault and wanted to know how the others who were in the accident were doing. The police man told me they were fine.

Jamin finally came in to see me a little while later. He had just been with Aiden who had gotten stitches on both cheeks, above his lip and on his chin from glass cuts. He had also bit completely through his tongue so he had a significant number of stitches in his tongue as well. At that point Jamin told me that he had been right behind me when the accident occurred but didn't actually see the impact because of a curve in the road. When he got to us, he stopped in the middle of the intersection and ran to the car. He said I was conscious and was repeating over an over that I didn't know what was happening. Two women showed up at the car and said they were nurses. This was before the EMTs showed up. They told Jamin to stay with me and they each tended to one of the kids. There was glass everywhere and Aiden was bleeding pretty badly. When the ambulance got there, they determined that Ellie was unhurt but put Aiden and I both in neck braces because they couldn't determine the extent of the damage.

Ellie left the hospital first with Jamin's mom. Later, she came back and brought Aiden home as well. I was finally allowed to leave about 8 hours after the accident. In the end, the only major injury I incurred was a fracture in the knuckle of my left middle finger. I have lots of bruises and am very sore everywhere, especially in my chest where the airbag hit and my neck and back. Other than the cuts on his face and tongue, Aiden seems to be okay. We're all at home now recovering. Aiden and I are both on pretty strong pain medicine. My hand should heal on its own in time, but I have to follow up with a hand specialist in the meantime.

On my way to work that morning, I had been meditating on the following passages of scripture. These passages came to mind while I was lying in the hospital bed alone and confused:

I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise will always be in my mouth.

My soul will make its boast in the Lord;

The humble will hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:1-3)

"Come now, let us reason together,"

Says the Lord.

"Though your sins are like scarlet,

They shall be as white as snow;

Though they are red as crimson,

They shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

I am so thankful that my precious children are okay. I know that we are all at times distracted and not paying attention when we are at the wheel and this, for me, has been a stark reminder of the serious responsibility we have as drivers and how quickly something can go wrong. I am praising the Lord for preserving our lives and for reminding me once again of how brief and fragile life truly is and how we should not take anything for granted. Our Lord truly is the Good Shepherd. We label these kinds of things "accidents" but we know they are not accidental in any way but rather "providential" for reasons we may never completely understand.