My journey

As a new blog friend of mine, would say, "God is never late but He's never early either, He is on time!" I finally have a mode of transportation, one in which all of us can ride including a couple more. After being without a vehicle of my own for 8 months and being 5 miles from town I've learned quite a few things. 1. No vehicle is too ugly to drive. 2. Never refuse a ride to the store or an offer of them stopping at the store for you. 3. That I can just google some recipes with the ingredients in my cabinet. 4. Children don't mind eating pizza and mac-n-cheese everyday, morning, noon, and night ;) 5. Just think of all the people that are driving you around as your own personal chauffeur you can't afford. 6. Foam, glue, and craft sticks can occupy children for weeks. Just be ready to clean the mess. 7. No one will die from missing a ball game or storyhour - have your own at home. 8. And finally, that I have been blessed with the best family and friends to help me along the way. So, with this new van comes many fears. A lot of haunting images and crazy thoughts. I have only briefly mentioned my accident and not gone into detail due to the mental anguish of it. I have actually avoided writing about this, but here it goes, stay with me now. It was November 23, 2005 a beautiful day I might add. The day before Thanksgiving and the boys and I (8 months pregnant) were just returning from the Super Wal-mart with Thanksgiving food and Christmas gifts. My youngest was sleeping and the oldest reading in the back seat of my Nissan Sentra. The highways here follow alongside the bayou and there is a lot of open road. There are always accidents along both sides of the bayou and yet still lots of drivers do not heed the warnings. I put my blinker on to turn left onto my street and my son yelled, "Mom Look!" In mid turn, I glanced to my left only to be smacked in the face with my door by the grill of an eighteen-wheeler. He came out of no where. I felt my head being crushed into the back of my seat and then as though by some miracle I was able to pull my head loose. My car shifted and skidded along the side of the truck. At this time, I let go of the wheel, my car got caught on his load and began to crumple underneath the truck. I immediately rolled the windows down, unbuckled, and jumped to the back. I explained to my oldest that if we hit the water he would have to hold his breath and hold my hand to swim. I unbuckled my youngest and held on to them both. Angels were with us this day - my car stopped 10 feet from the bank. I finally took a breath and hugged my children thanking God for their lives and mine. Three men and more ran from all over to check on us. Asking us who was driving, due to me being in the back seat. I asked what I had done wrong. One man responded with, "You didn't do anything mam, you couldn't have stopped that. He was passing us all up (four vehicles) in a curve, in a no passing zone, while you were turning and drug you 150 feet. The man from the truck, probably in shock, never came out of his truck, but was not injured. My youngest had a small cut on his head from the glass and my oldest had a brush burn from the seatbelt. Little did I know of my injuries, my adrenaline prevented me from knowing about the baseball growing out of my head, my Joan River's lips and busted bleeding nose. I thought about this image often for months. And how bad I felt that I looked like that trying to talk to my children. It's no wonder I didn't scare them, yet my oldest son just responded with, "Mom you looked like a brave Mom, nothing scary." My husband was offshore at the time, so a call was made to him that I was being rushed to the hospital. I was going into labor. When I got to the hospital, a few things went wrong but nothing as major as what just happened. They were able to stop my labor and that's all that mattered to me. I was in the hospital for Thanksgiving, but released myself later that day. My husband on the way to see me in the hospital got into an accident also, but luckily was okay and did not have to visit the hospital. My ordeal has taught me that your loved ones can be taken from you in the blink of an eye, so don't take them for granted. That my time with them on earth is lived better by moments, not by minutes or hours. And that there is still strength left in me to take on the next challenge. I still have images that flash in my head once in awhile, but I try to comfort myself with knowing that God is with me every step of the way. Every day is a struggle to get on the road, but I know I have to so I press on. Funny, what lessons from life you get along the way. If anything, anyone that knows me can tell you though sometimes it takes getting hit by a Mactruck for Michelle to get it.