Thankful

This isn't the message I thought I would typing this evening, but it is one that has to be done. Most importantly, all four of our family members have arrived intact at Grandma and Grandpa's house. However, this will definitely be one Christmas trip we will never forget.


Please keep in mind, all FOUR of us are okay. We are healthy and whole and thankful to be that way. Our story could have ended very differently. This story is told from my (Kelly's) perspective, but has been pieced together from listening and talking through events with a number of different people.

On Saturday morning, we left for Rochester for our Great Christmas Adventure 2008. We were excited and happy to be making the trip, ready to be on vacation for the next week. After driving 3 hours, we stopped to go to the bathroom (necessary when traveling with this pregnant chick). About 30-45 minutes after we got back on the highway, something went wrong*. Our car (my truck for those of you who keep track of these things) started to swerve and spin on the highway towards the median. We were traveling at highway speeds when our car entered the median**. When the car hit the snowbanks/dirt in the median, it started to roll over. Bystanders reported that our car rolled several times across the median and came to a rest just before the shoulder of the highway lanes going in the opposite direction.

All four of us were taken by ambulance to the University of Iowa Emergency/Trauma Center and fully*** checked out. Here is a quick run down of everyone's conditions:

John- Many, many cuts to his head/hands/shoulders from the breaking glass of the windshield. The cuts on his head required staples to close in several places. One of the fingers on his left hand was severed (cut almost all the way through). We are supposed to get more information about what is going to happen with this finger tomorrow. Various bumps/bruises.

Kelly- A bruise on the right side of her face, a bump on the right side of her head. Very stiff muscles in neck/upper back.

William - A small bruise on his forehead, a very small scratch on his left leg.

I can't tell you how incredibly lucky our family was yesterday. Things could have turned out very differently for our family and I'm am completely overwhelmed by....how huge this accident could have been. Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life, although I didn't realize it at the time. At the end of the day, we felt we were incredibly blessed and lucky when all four of us could just be in the same room with each other.

Over the next few days/weeks our family is going to need some time to process what has happened. We know that at least one guardian angel was watching over our family yesterday keeping us safe. However, things aren't going to be easy. John will have some recuperation time after his significant hand injuries. Belongings (including my car), have been lost. Feelings are fragile and close to the surface. I have more to share with you, but it is going to take time before things on this blog get back to the normal, fun, lighthearted news more typical of my writings.

So, I'll close for now - but keep this in mind: family is one of the most precious gifts out there. I came close to loosing mine this weekend. Grab your family right now and appreciate that moment you have together. I'm glad I still have the chance to.


*We're not sure what went wrong. The road conditions were fairly good, we weren't changing lanes, going around curves, passing other cars, etc. It feels like whatever it was came out of nowhere.

**In this case, the median was a large area with a ditch in between the two different directions of the same highway.

***We were at the hospital for a LONG time. They were very exhaustive in their examinations/monitoring. Although I was uninjured and appeared to be okay, I got a lot of extra attention due to our pregnancy. Because I am pregnant, they required me to be monitored for 6+ hours with fetal monitoring equipment/ultrasounds before they would let me leave the hospital. I was the last person to be discharged.