Getting back up

April 2001 was a milestone of sorts for me.  I was learning to drive. My dad had bought a new family car, a Pontiac Sunfire, and in 2001 there were a lot more of them around. It was a nice shiny, brand new car.  The next day, Dad and I went out for a drive, and he put me in the drivers seat so I could get some more practice.  I was just about ready to get my full license.  We drove all over the Valley.  Port Williams, Kingsport Beach, etc.  It was a mild, sunny day.  I even remember we were listening to Kerry Livgren's "Decade" CD. We drove through Canning, up the North Mountain.

Lovely Kingsport Beach

When we got to the top, we turned left towards Halls Harbour.  I remember thinking I REALLY had to go pee...serious.  I knew I would have to wait until we got to the Harbour.  No more than 30 seconds passed when we came to the Baxter's Harbour Rd intersection when a car flew at high speed through the stop sign and t-boned us on the front of the car, drivers side.  The air bags deployed, and the car spun a few times and landed in the ditch.  It felt like slow motion. I remember the smell of smoke, powder from the airbags, and somehow getting out of the car and landing in a small snowbank, and some nearby farmers ran over to assist us.  Dad ran to check on the other driver.  He had not been wearing a seatbelt, and had landed on the passenger side, and was trapped.  He was drunk.  I kept thinking "I killed someone, I killed someone" and apologizing to Dad for crashing the car. After that is a blur, with vague memories of paramedics and firefighters, and being strapped to a backboard with blood on my face from the airbag sending my fist into my nose.  The paramedics had to cut my jeans up to my hip because my leg was hurt.  I did not see the car until a few days later at the junkyard, and it was a write off. The front end like a piece of tinfoil folded in someone's hand.

That day was in a way a nightmare. I saw "my life flash before my eyes".  If that car had of hit us a second or two later, he would have hit us driver side, and I would have been killed.  At 1:00pm, his blood alcohol level was through the roof.  He told the police that his buddy was driving his car, and had run off.  Months later, Dad and I had to testify in court against him.  I don't remember the outcome, except we did get a small cash settlement, and another new car.

I did not want to drive again. For days after the accident, I could not be in a quiet room because I would constantly hear the "BANG" of metal against metal.  I had whiplash and back pain, which still affects me today.  What also affects me is the memory, and the sense of gratefulness that no one was killed.  I did not want to get behind the wheel of a car again.

I have always felt very close to my dad.  I don't know why.  Maybe because he was the first to hold me when I was born.  I read in a note that when I was an hour old, I was very fussy and crying, but when my dad reached into the isolette, I stopped crying and was still.  I have always felt a bond with him.  A month or so after the accident, he was driving with me to my Nan's in Port Williams.  He pulled over to the side of the road, and told me to get into the drivers seat.  My heart pounded.  Every time I was in town and someone would pull out from an intersection or a driveway, I would flinch. I still get nervous now, but not as bad.  He said if I did not get back into the drivers seat, I would regret it.  So I did it. I took my time, and we made it to Nan's. In July 2001, I got my full drivers license, thanks to my dad.

Daddy's girl from day one. June 1982, born 10 weeks premature.

This day would not have happened were it not for the Grace of God looking out for us that day.

Happy, healthy, and now a Wife and Mommy, standing with my Dad in Fredericton.

Just like Caleb learning to walk, all he needed to begin, was Confidence.  In life, if you fall off a horse, you get right back on.  Don't let a setback change the course of your life.  This applies to all areas of life.  The horse I have to get back on is to get back into a Church fellowship.  We are taking one step at a time, one day a time.  Thank you God for sparing us, and for blessing us beyond what we ever dreamed.