Last Monday I got a dreaded phone call that you never want to get. "Hi, I got in a car accident and I think I broke my jaw, the ambulance is taking me to the hospital" my mind travels back to the other calls in my life with someone rushing to the ER. My husband cutting himself with a saw blade, another time thinking he had broken his ankle, my Dad with kidney stones, Grandma with heart trouble, the list could go on. This time it was my Dad. I don't panic in these situations, immediately I am calm because I need to be strong for this person who is in the crises.
I make a few phone calls and get down to the ER as soon as possible with my husband beside me, afraid of what I will find.
He is in a bed, but no one has come to help him yet, face clearly swollen with a definite disjointed jaw. 10 hours and another ambulance ride later, we are headed home from a different hospital with a diagnosis: broken jaw, will be "fixed" tomorrow, try to sleep tonight.
The cop had come to the hospital while we waited and talked about how "lucky" my Dad was to be alive, that most people don't walk away from this kind of accident. We know he isn't lucky, God wants him here for a reason.
His jaw is now wired shut and he can only "eat" through a straw, this should last for 6 weeks. He is discouraged and I don't blame him.
On Wednesday we went to get the rest of his things from his totaled car, and what we saw was unnerving. He could have died. Easily. I won't allow my mind to go there, it would be too hard. To lose both parents before their "time"? Not fathomable. All I can do is be thankful. And continue to reassure him that he is here for a reason. His work here for the Lord is not over. And you can't argue with that.
I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful that I didn't receive a different call that day, and then have to call my sisters with worse news. I'm thankful that my daughter will grow up knowing at least one of my parents and see at least half of who I am through Grandpa. Have you taken time to Thank God for your family today?
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