Sorry that I can't blog!

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that I am sorry but I won't be able to blog for a while. There is just too much pain and discomfort in my head and neck due to the car accident. If you can spare a few prayers for my daughter and me for a speedy recovery and safety for the upcoming trip, we will greatly appreciate it.

Thank you so very much!
God bless you all!

The car accident - part two

I'll try to give you a bit more information...

Part Two:

While my daughter and I were shivering in the car, now pulled off the road, we weren't certain about the extent of our injuries and waited as quietly as we could for help to arrive. It is precisely at times like these that we are reminded that we have control over virtually nothing in the grand scheme of things in life.

As I sat facing forward in the driver's seat, I could see a "monster" truck to the left of my car and instinctively knew that the young man who was approaching my window was the man who hit us even though I had not seen him hit us since he came up from behind.

"I'm sorry!" he said.

"It's okay." I responded in a sort of a daze. "I have to shut my window, though, I'm cold," I said as my body trembled. I knew I couldn't get into a conversation at that point. I was in survival mode for myself and my daughter.

Just then, a kind soft spoken man came to my window and then opened my door. He talked to me and asked my name, my age, my birth date, my daughter's name, my social security number and other things as well. I was able to roll the answers off my tongue between shivers. I surprised myself that the information seemed to come forth coherently. He then explained that he was an EMT and worked at the hardware store just yards away from the scene of the accident. The other EMT who worked at that store was now at my daughter's side of the car talking with her.

We were also, of course asked about out injuries and what was going on. We were told that the ambulance had been called and should arrive to us shortly. The man explained to me that he was going to have his partner get in the car seat behind me and hold my head still with his hands until they could put me in the brace. Based on my complaints and everything apparent to them, they did not want me to chance moving my neck. I explained several times that I am a mother of five and am used to taking care of everyone else. It was because of this, I think, that they chose to hold me still, knowing I wanted to care for my daughter, but that I shouldn't move. I was so deeply grateful to have these men there at the scene so quickly. I felt comforted amid the fright I felt because these men knew what they were doing and took the time to care for us.

This was certainly one of the most difficult moments I had ever been through as a mother in all of the 31 years of my mothering. This was the first time that I was unable to help one of my children when they were hurt because I had to remain still. I think that pain far outweighed the incredible pain in my neck and head. I couldn't hold my daughter to comfort her, I couldn't kiss her or caress her or anything but speak to her when not speaking to those working on us. The most I could do was to reach and touch her a couple of times before I was worked on and taken from the vehicle to be strapped on the body board.

(I'll try to write part three soon)

The recent car accident

This will be part one:

A couple of days ago I told you about my car accident with my daughter. I put a short quick post up on this blog to request prayers. That's all I could do at that point. THANK YOU everyone for your concern and prayers for my daughter and for my speedy recovery. We are supposed to leave in a week for Rome! If you can still spare a few prayers, please continue because we have a ways to go in our recovery.

Since I left you all "hanging" and without details of the accident, I'll give you a little more information now. Please be patient with me because It's not easy to type this out and I have to get rest, too.

Friday afternoon I picked my daughter up from school and proceeded to do a couple of errands. It was my husband's birthday too. We were on our way home and traveling slowly down a certain street because of the many crosswalks. I noticed that the car in front of us didn't stop to allow the woman who stood at the crosswalk cross the street. I slowed down to a stop and motioned for her to cross if she'd like to. She nodded and started across the street. We waited while she walked across. Suddenly I was deeply shocked to feel intensely a sharp painful blow to the back of my head and neck as if someone had taken a huge baseball bat and slammed me there! It was incredibly searing and excruciating. My mind couldn't comprehend in that instant what had happened. However, my daughter's face told it all to me. When I saw her pain and her fright too, I realized in the next instant that it had happened to her as well and that meant we were just hit from behind. We were in a car accident. The blow was from the force of the "monster" truck" which had been speeding down the street behind us (we found out later) and made no attempt to slow down or stop because the driver was oblivious to us there. We took the full impact since we were standing still.

I was freezing and in pain. I didn't know at that time that the back of my car was gone - a formerly big strong Mountaineer. The freezing twenty degree air rushed in our vehicle and partnered with the shock that we were already experiencing; causing us to shake profusely. In those 2 or 3 minutes that followed, it seemed that no one knew what had happened. I reached to open my window and pleaded with a passing driver to call the police that we were hurt. The woman who was crossing the street came to our windows and asked us, "Are you all right?" "No, we're not all right, please stay with us." I asked her. She did. I wanted her to tell the police what had happened.

I reached my right hand towards my daughter, trying not to move my neck or body too much and took her hand to pray together. "Please dear Lord, help us. Blessed Mother Mary, please be with us. All of you Angels and Saints be with us and pray for us."

Someone asked me to move my car off the road, I don't recall who. People were surrounding my car, on my daughter's side and mine; all talking at once. I suddenly remembered to call my husband. I was in shock. I tried to pull my cell phone from my purse. I dialed his cell number. No answer. This is not the time to not answer your phone, I thought. I dialed his work number. I knew that he was leaving about that time to come home. We were going to go out to dinner for his birthday.

I got the answering machine. "Sweetie, we had a car accident!!!" I said into the phone and then placed it on my lap because everyone was talking to me and my husband hadn't answered the phone. After a few minutes, I realized that I should pick up my phone and I saw the word, "connected" on the screen.
"Are you there?" I asked the phone, hoping my husband was listening by some miracle and not just his machine.
"Where are you?!" my husband asked me.
I told him where we were. "Be careful," I added. I knew he would be tempted to speed to get to us and we certainly didn't need two accidents!
He said, "I'm on my way."

All we could do then was to stay still, pray and try not to move our necks while we shivered in the cold, hoping for medical help to arrive soon.

(I will try to continue the story soon.)