The Gift Of Life

 35 years ago today, I was driving from one summer job to another on 635 in my mom's Cadillac. It was raining, and the last thing I remember was a car in front of me swerving. It was a Corvette.

I woke up to someone pulling on my arm, a bright light and PAIN! When I opened my eyes, I saw a lot of glass and a lot of blood. I could faintly hear someone calling to me, and in a foggy haze; the light turned into a firefighter. The first thought that entered my mind was "THANK YOU JESUS FOR SPARING MY LIFE!" The second thought was "I hope nobody is dead".

A cement truck had plowed into the back of my mom's Cadillac pushing me into the car in front, through 3 lanes of traffic and into the median wall. There were 10 cars involved in this accident.

As I was being wheeled into the ER, my mom was there. I remember wondering how she got there so fast, but it actually took a while for me to arrive at the hospital. She was walking beside the gurney, and the first thing I said to her was "Did I kill anyone? Was it my fault? I'm so so sorry about your car." She reassured me that it was not my fault and nobody had died. I was the one with the most injuries. I had severe head trauma but was very lucid, and I remember thinking things could have turned out very different.

There were a lot of stitches....a lot....and a lot of recovery. My body has not been the same since that day. There were a lot of facial gashes and injuries, head trauma, glass removal, dislocated shoulder. My nose was sliced completely in two (I'll spare you the photos), and there is a piece above my right nostril that is still missing resulting in two different shaped nostrils.

I slept on the couch for months, so I didn’t have to get up the stairs. One night I remember waking up in the middle of the night and seeing my dad sitting at my feet. He was crying softly, and again I just felt so thankful that my life was spared. Things could have turned out so different.

It took almost a year before I was finished with physical therapy and surgeries, and recovery was hard; but I was so GRATEFUL!! That day changed my perspective. I don’t know if I really appreciated the gift of life until that day. I don't think God causes bad things to happen, but I think there is an opportunity to see light and glean goodness. I’ve seen this through my own loss but also other people’s loss.

I've been praying for a family for a long time with a precious little girl, named Indy Llew. She has Down Syndrome and also cancer. That little lady is a bright bright light in the world while suffering most of her little life, but you wouldn’t know it. She is pure joy! Her parents have shared her story asking for prayer but also because she is changing the world. Through her, God has worked some amazing miracles in people's hearts. Today Indy passed, and my heart has been so so sad for us all. I cannot imagine the pain her family feels. I kept thinking about how things could have turned out different for her too. I don’t know why some people survive and some don’t. What I know is that time is a gift....make the most of it. You have one life to live...mend things that need to be mended, be kind, generous, encouraging, share your gifts, laugh a lot, keep learning; and LOVE like crazy!