He's Awake!!!!

I know it's been quite some time, but I have some wonderful news to share. You may remember my dad's friend who was in that really bad accident quite a few months ago.

My mom just imed me to give me the wonderful news that Dave is awake and has been awake for about a week!! He is talking and sleeping and waking up, and he even took a few steps today! He still has a long road ahead of him, but he is awake and healing, this is incredible! Thank you so much for all of your prayers, I know that they have made a big difference for Dave and his family. Please pray that he continues to heal and recover.

Update on Dave's Condition

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Dave and his family, I know they are making a difference.

Dave came out of surgery for his knee and hand just fine, but remains in ICU. They have determined that he is in a coma. He is holding steady, not getting worse but not getting better either. He's going on a week now. Please continue to pray for Dave's continued healing. Pray that his brain is able to repair itself after this massive head trauma. Pray that his body continue to heal. I cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers.

Again, feel free to pass this prayer request on to your friends, family and any prayers chains you know. Dave needs all the prayer warriors he can get. I greatly appreciate all of the supportive comments everyone has left, I know Dave has people all over the country and the world praying for him, and that is a powerful thing.

Urgent Prayer Request Update

First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for all of your prayers for Dave and his family. I know that they are making a difference. Please continue to pray for him.

We have more details on what happened. Evidently he was riding and a Jeep made a left hand turn in front of him. He slammed really hard into the side. The passenger of the Jeep was also taken away by ambulance at the scene. From what we've been told, Dave has "massive" head trauma, C1 and C2 fracture, broken left knee, broken left hand and internal bleeding. He is still unconscious but not in a coma. He is stable enough to have surgery to repair his knee and hand today, which is definitely a good sign, though he is still in ICU.

Please continue to keep Dave in your prayers, he still needs them as he continues to recover. Things are looking up, but he's not out of the woods yet. Please also keep the passengers of the Jeep in your prayers. I have no other details about those individuals at this time.

Thank you again for all of the prayers. I'll update again as soon as more information becomes available.

Checking In

Just a quick post to check in to let everyone know that I am doing great :) I'm slightly sore, but it's going away quickly. Part of the soreness is from riding in general, not the fall. Mostly my hands hurt from the fall because I was holding on very tight when I lost my grip on the handlebars. I was talking to the bf more about it today as we recounted the episode to friends at work asking about how our weekend went, and I evidently didn't fall very far. I just tipped off the side of the quad and thus was only a few feet away from the ground when I hit. I landed on my shoulder/side pretty evenly and rolled to a nice stop. (which apparently is the right thing to do)
But anyways, I'm good, almost 100% not sore, and eager to get out again when the time is right. I swear I will be extra careful, and I've learned from the experience and know what to do in the future to prevent such an incident. Also, as requested, there will be a picture (hopefully tomorrow) of me on the quad in all my gear...it's on the bf's computer at the moment, but I'll have him send it over to me once we get to work in the morning.
I hope you all are having wonderful evenings. We're supposed to be getting rain tomorrow, I'm so excited! It's a busy week for me. I'm teaching a flute lesson tomorrow and then probably having dinner with the bf and the manager. Wednesday I've got to bake pies for Thursday when we're driving up to my parents. Friday is decorating and baking cookies with my Grama. Saturday and Sunday are various holiday events with the bf's parents.
Well for a quick post that sure got long. But it's definitely time to turn in, I'm sleepy.

The Witch's Eye: A Tale of the Fall

The morning started beautifully after a great night's sleep, didn't wake up at 6am like the last trip...this one was more like 7:30 or 8. Eager to get out in the dunes, we set out for a ride before breakfast. Decked out in brand new gear, I learned to shift in my wonderful new boots. It's definitely a different feeling being unable to move your ankle or lower leg, but I felt so much more protected and comfortable in these. Regaining my bearings on the quad, the four of us set out for a ride into the dunes, the bf in the lead. This place is different, soft sand, smoother rides if you cross it the right way. Up and around, over and through, racing around in 3rd and 4th gear. Learning to downshift to make it up hills, taking a deep breath and scaling the dunes...not the huge ones mind you, I'm not that brave yet, it's only my second trip.

Riding around, following the bf and the Announcer*. Struggle up the hill-need more power, push in on the throttle, crest the top, follow them down. Going too fast to follow their turn, try to make it over the little ridge in front. Up and over, quad starts to buck, uneven and jolty, make it over, bucking back and forth. Grip breaks free, I go flying, quad goes flying, roll and land in the soft sand. Sit up, the bf, the Announcer and the Announcer's son come rushing over, I'm okay. Not sure what happened and just a little sore and shaken. Stay sitting in the sand for quite a while.

From what they saw, quad and I went the same direction as I flew off, but it tipped the other direction at the last second, remaining upright instead of landing on me. I rolled and didn't try to brace, which kept me safe. I don't remember doing it, but it was the right thing to do. Quad okay, I'm okay, the bf's blood pressure slightly elevated, lots of adrenaline for everyone. We take a break and walk on the dunes. Go back and look at what I hit, I remember seeing it and I remember it getting jolty, then remember being on the ground, uncertain of the middle...I think I closed my eyes. The angled shelf is what I hit, the Witch's Eye. They say I made it up over and several feet before I flew, it got so rough I'm pretty sure that my hands simply weren't strong enough and were torn off the handlebars. I asked the bf, and I think that if my hands were stronger and maybe a little bigger and if I maybe had a bit more experience, I might have ridden it out. I should have stopped before I went over...I forgot I had brakes when I couldn't make the turn. Left hand by thumb sore, probably from trying to hold onto the bike, slightly scraped from inside my glove, but not badly. Right hand a little sore, but not like the left. Left knee feels scraped, but just a nice line-like bruise...probably from the quad. Twisted my head to the side as I landed, slight headache/neck ache for a bit, but mostly better now. Helmet did its job. Good helmet. Covered in sand, the Announcer gave me water from his Camel Pack to rinse the sand out of my mouth.
We ride a while more, I'm a little scared. The bf makes me go over a few hills rather than around, gotta get back on the horse. It's scary, but he's right, I'm glad he makes me be brave.

Good part of the ride? I caught about 6 inches of air...and I didn't even know it until they told me I did it and landed perfectly. I had no idea. Just a little hill/bump, but I got some lift. Kinda cool. Back at camp the bf made a delicious breakfast and then we met up with the group that drove out this morning. The bf is out on a ride with them and I'm resting in the trailer, since they're going to be riding hard and crazy. Even before I tried to fly and fell in the sand I wasn't ready for hard riding. I'm tired from the ebbing adrenaline and am contemplating a nap. Ibuprofen made my head/neck feel better. Overall I'm not very sore, the bf says I landed very well and avoided really hurting myself...the sand was a loose, mostly soft landing.

And don't worry, I'll keep being careful. Now I know to brake before I hit a Witch's Eye instead of trying to clear it. I'll go on probably at least 2 more rides, gotta get my courage back, can't let one little fall keep me down. To be honest I think I scared the bf more than I scared myself. As soon as I saw and hit the Witch's Eye I pretty much knew I was coming off...like when I flew off the trampoline, I'm a little fuzzy on what happened in the middle. The important part is that I'm okay. Just need to ice my hand a little. :) I think I'm going to give into the post-adrenaline fatigue and take a nap while the bf and the others are out on their ride.

I hope you are all having fabulous weekends!

*The Announcer is one of my favorite systems architect guys at work. On the weekends he sometimes hosts a radio show, he totally has radio voice.

PhotoStory Friday: Heaven's Light

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

"Heaven's Light"

I took this photo back a few years ago at the San Diego Mission with my family. We were getting ready to leave, and my brother and I happened to peak through this gate, and found this beautiful piece of paradise. A long stretch of grass bathed in sunlight, surrounding this beautifully adorned cross. I discovered later that I had managed to capture the beauty of the sunlight bathing this serene scene. This has long been one of my favorite photos that I have taken.
It seemed particularly appropriate as I am finding my faith again. I took a slight hiatus, simply didn't make it a priority. But God works in mysterious ways, and though we may not always understand His plan, He does have one. This photo shows faith and beauty to me.

(fair warning: it gets long after this point and I won't be offended if you don't read beyond this part. Bit of a day, and I just needed to get some stuff out of my head. It decided to spill out here as I was typing.)

It also provides me a sense of peace. Which is something I can use tonight. It was several years ago. I was at my aunt's, watching my cousins the day before their birthday party. I'd taken the train up the day before the party to help set things up and to keep an eye on the kids while my aunt took my uncle to get something done on his eye. The phone rang, not an unusual occurrence, one of my cousins answered it. It was my dad, and he wanted to talk to me. I will never forget the way he began the conversation. "Hi, everyone's okay, there's no need to worry." Pause. Long pause. The longer the pause, the bigger the but that comes after it. My mom had been in an accident with my littlest brother, on their way to pick up my other brother from school. My littlest brother was thankfully completely unharmed, they think he was asleep when it happened. He made friends with the firemen. (it happened right outside the firestation) My mom was in the hospital with a severe concussion. She had been going in a mental loop for hours. She kept asking the same questions. My Dad and my Grandpa were with her, the boys were with my Grama at their house. It was a bad concussion, and they were keeping her overnight for observation. They (obviously) wouldn't be coming to the party the next day. My dad told me I didn't need to/shouldn't come home. In hindsight, it was probably a better idea...I wouldn't have left and I'd have missed my classes and all that nonsense. And I wouldn't have cared.
I got to talk to my mom the next day after she'd left the hospital. They stopped at my grandparents, and she felt safe there, so they all spent the night there, where my mom was doing okay. (my grandparents are the most amazing people you will ever meet) It was hard to talk to her, but I put on my brave voice for her. She sounded tired and small. Her head hurt and she was in pain. But I was relieved all the same to hear her voice for myself. I wasn't old enough to drink (and I'm one of the people who actually waited until her 21st birthday to take a sip of alcohol) but I felt the need to be destructive and careless when I got home that night. My roommate at the time (and a wonderful friend still), understood, in her way. So, as a remedy, we watched the most violent, action packed movie we could borrow (which, incidentally, was one or two of the Bourne movies...yeah, I know, I live wild) and drank incredible amounts of Dr. Pepper. (yes, what a rebel, right? If I'd been 21 I'm sorry to admit I probably would have been drinking something slightly stronger)

Believe me when I tell you that I am one of the happiest, calmest, optimistic people you will ever meet. Sunshiny disposition and all. Knowing that, believe me when I say I have NEVER been so angry in my life. I several times was so angry I was shaking. The woman who ran the stop sign going over 40 mph and slammed into my mom's van, had the nerve to LIE to the police. And the moronic officer BELIEVED her. My brother, who was about 4 at the time could have told you it was a PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE story, if you actually opened your damn eyes and looked at the accident scene. And said officer tried to question my mom. In the ER. While she was strapped to a board with a SERIOUS head injury. While my grandpa and dad were I think checking her in. And then questioned her honesty and integrity because she couldn't answer simple information like what day it was. Later, they sent another officer, an angel, to re-measure the scene. Like my four year old brother could have told them, he reported the truth. (which he said he didn't even need to do, because it was obvious what had happened) I have never really wished evil on anyone. But I wanted so badly to see the bitch who had run the stop sign going well over the speed limit, given my mom and concussion and endangered my baby brother at the same time, and had the nerve to LIE about it! I wanted to see her, and look her in the eye, and punch her out. To be honest, I still wouldn't mind doing so. Given the chance, I think I'd throw my first punch ever in my life. A few inches, maybe a foot, and she would have hit my mom's door straight on. I saw the pictures. My mom has no memory between leaving my grandparent's house and being in the hospital many hours later.

Why is this coming up now? It's been nearly 3 years or so since this happened. Well, today my mom had a bit of a panic episode. And I know they all downplayed it when they talked to me. She was in the parking lot next to the hospital to go in for some normal test or whatever. And my grandpa had to come and get her and take her home. My dad was in with a client and couldn't answer his phone. She told me on Google talk while I was at work this afternoon. (after my grandpa had brought her home and stayed with them until my dad got home) She tries so hard, but she still has a lot of after affects from the accident. All because some woman was speeding and couldn't be bothered to stop for a big red stop sign. She gets migraines now, and gets horrible pain in her body sometimes. Incapacitating. And she has two very active little boys to keep up with daily. (they're very good though, and I know they are extra helpful when she's having a tough time) She's always gone to the chiropractor since she was in a head on accident with a drunk driver when I was tiny. (I wasn't in the car) But that used to be once every month or two. Now? Sometimes she has to go twice a week just to function. And she tries to lighten it up, play it off, but she wasn't okay for a while after the accident, and sometimes she's still not okay. And it makes me SO angry. Not as angry as I was at the time, but still pretty bad. Because that bitch broke my mommy. Childish as that sounds. She did. And I hate it. Yes, the rational side of me knows that punching the woman who did it in the face would not make my mom any better, and it probably wouldn't make me feel too great either. But I still want to. Given the chance, I think I might. Or at least slap her very, very hard.

Most days my mom is fine. She seems to go in cycles, she knows it. It just makes things very hard, and she hates it. She knows that it sucks, and it's not fun to live with. She doesn't like being broken, but she doesn't know how to fix it. I hate that she has to learn how to deal with it. She shouldn't have to. She shouldn't be broken. I probably won't know how bad today's panic episode was. But even from the sugar coated versions I've gotten, I can tell it was pretty bad. I really kind of want to go home right now. But I have work in the morning and it takes 3 hours to get home, and me missing work wouldn't help her. It would only stress her out. I get to see her next weekend at least, which helps. This is probably one of those moments I need to just breathe, pray and go to sleep. I don't like being angry. But I am. Every time my mom hurts because of this, I get angry. Because it was completely avoidable. And none of it is her fault, but she's the one who has to live with it. And it's not fair. I know life is unfair. But this sucks.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this post to become a novel, I didn't mean for it to go this long. The photo makes me feel peaceful, so it seemed appropriate for today. It's just such simple beauty.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek