Defining Moments...

My older brother was not very old, I want to say early elementary school age, when he told my mom he "felt like a word without a definition."  Honestly, at that point in life I can totally understand.  It is through life's experiences that our self purpose is defined, and in most lives I would say by age 7 we haven't really had many of those defining moments. Today is the anniversary of an event in my life that I wouldn't necessarily say completely "defined" my life, but it definitely added a line to the alternate definitions. 

It was 9 years ago, July 6 at 11:00 a.m.  I was driving north on the freeway with KM, Agee, and our cousin Belle.  It only took a few seconds for all 4 of our lives to change forever.  A day that was meant to be spent in fun and laughter was altered to a day of grief and fear, but it also became a day of hope and faith.  Although this is a more solemn subject than I usually share, I want to share some of the things that I came to know as complete truth that day.  I was driving Agee's car to take my 2 youngest sisters and my cousin swimming at the lake up the canyon. This was an activity that I frequented with my friends.  Belle was a lifeguard and the rest of us had been to the lake so water safety was not something that we felt would be an issue, but for some reason I had this nagging feeling that we shouldn't go.  We hadn't been on the road for very long when I needed to move over to allow another car to merge.  There was a car in the lane to the right of us, which I believe sped up, but whether I misjudged his distance I will never know in this life.  Either way, I started to move and the other car was there.  I swerved back to our original lane, but that was now occupied by the merging driver.  I was stuck in a car that I was unfamiliar with and didn't know how to handle.  It took just one split second, just one wrong move and we were rolling on the freeway.  As our car flipped forward and to the right, Belle was catapulted out of the back that didn't have a top on it.  The rest of us remained in the car as Belle was using the freeway as a trampoline, bouncing around as if she were a rag doll.  Our car finally settled (somewhat) by balancing on the edge of the top of a hill on the wrong side of the concrete barriers.   We were just south of the overpass facing south.  How we landed further south than we had begun, since we were driving north, is still a mystery that no one has been able to answer. However, our landing spot is highly significant to the survival of my 2 younger sisters.  I don't know how long I was unconscious, but I know I was because I remember waking up.  The roof of the car was caved in and holding Agee's head in an unnatural position.  KM was unconscious in the back of the car, sprawled across the seat.  I was still buckled in my seatbelt, but somehow my legs were hanging out of the side window, and the steering wheel was pushed in over my stomach. My seat was broken in 2 piece by a lengthwise split.  My position was also significant, not only because had I not been twisted sideways the steering wheel would have crushed my chest, but also because it kept Agee behind me keeping me from the gruesome reality of her extensive injuries.  I did notice that there was a lack of traffic passing our accident scene, but did not find out until later that it was due to a semi-truck driver who had pulled his rig across all lanes in a means of protecting Belle from traffic during her acrobatic moments.  There were 5 cars that made it past before the truck blocked all traffic.  Two of the cars were driven by nurses, friends who had attended nursing school together.  One car was driven by an off duty firefighter.  A fourth car was driven by an off duty EMT, ironically the firefighter's brother.  The fifth car was a forest service rescue truck, and a friend of the 2 brothers.  His truck contained a wench, which was used to stabilize our car and allow emergency personnel to remove us from it.  An officer, who was not on duty, but had his radio on, was driving directly below the overpass that we nearly rolled off of when the call came through and was on the scene within seconds.    The miraculous placing of each of these individuals is a blessing that saved lives that day, and for that I will be eternally grateful.  

At the hospital we were told of the extensiveness of Agee's injuries.  She had been scalped to the bone, every layer severed completely.  In wasn't until she was in surgery that it was discovered that each and every piece was still there and able to be reattached.  She had a skull fracture from ear to ear.  She had a compound fracture in her arm, just to name a few of her injuries.  The surgeons told my parents that if she were to live that she would never make it past a vegetative state, there was no way with the extent of her injuries.  Belle, who had been thrown, walked away without a broken bone.  She had severe road rash on her arms and legs, but her life was intact.  KM suffered a severe concussion and a fractured wrist.  My only injury was an unattached shoulder that the extent of the injury would not even be discovered until I had surgery 5 years later.  Agee spent approximately 5 weeks in the ICU, 2 1/2 weeks in inpatient rehab, and several weeks in outpatient rehab.  She took the experience in stride.  When she was relearning to speak the speech therapist would have her come up with as many words that started with whatever letter they were working on as she could, and then to create sentences with those words.  Her favorite was "R" because she was able to come up with things like, "ridiculous, retarded, this is retarded, I am not retarded, but this is retarded."  We knew she would be okay.  

The girl that wasn't supposed to survive graduated with her high school class 10 months after the accident.  She is now the slightly insane mother of 4 young children.  The best part of her injury is that she lost a portion of her memory and forgot that she had broken up with her boyfriend, who is now her husband of nearly 8 years.  (We liked him, so we didn't remind her, and neither did he). 

Why am I telling you this, because each year on this date I reflect.  I reflect at how my personal knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father came to be so strong that I knew that He knew of me and watched out for me.  I am telling you this because this helped to define who I am.  It made me realize that I will never doubt my faith or the principles that I was taught as a child by my parents and my church.  I am telling you to build my own strength and to remind myself that no matter where I am or what I am doing, I know I am being watched over and taken care of.  I also know that you, whoever you are, are being loved and watched over also.  

I know that this entry isn't as lighthearted as most of the entries in my blog are, but thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share a defining moment in my life.  Sometimes it takes the roll of a car for us to realize how entertaining the rest of life really is.