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| Turner, my 16 year old great nephew |
It goes like this: Shortly after my husband and I retired to Arkansas in the fall of 2004, I got a call one evening from my brother's wife telling me that their son, then 35 years old, had been hit by a car going about 40 mph.
Jay, my nephew, had gone with his wife and two sons to a fall festival at their son's elementary school. Because of the overflow crowd, they had parked across the street on a church parking lot.
While crossing the street on their way home, my nephew stepped in the path of a car driven by a 16 year old boy. The teenager who hit him was not drunk, not on drugs.........it was an accident--a terrible, horrible, almost indescribable accident-- Jay had severe brain trauma, both legs were broken in many places above and below the knee, his face was marred almost beyond recognition at the time, and the list of injuries just goes on and on. It was an incredible miracle that he lived.
I won't go in to all the details but Jay was denied many things because of the accident--one of them was his career--a cutting edge computer whiz for a major corporation--he had to take full disability.
This morning when I got on Facebook this was what my great nephew, Turner, had written on his status:
"I have the strongest dad on the planet! And I want everyone to know it!My mother and I were looking through pictures and we came across pictures of my dad right after his accident. He looked lame and mentally challenged.He looked broken and empty minded. He looked like he was barely there with his skin tight around his bones and his face crooked and lame.If you didnt know anything and just looked at him you would think he was about to die.Despite the fact that there was not much of him left, there was at least one thing behind that blank face. My fathers heart!He came back from literally his death bed--he fought with all his might and his whole heart and will to get back to normal!He didnt do it for himself though because it would have been easy for him to just give up and be a vegetable for the rest of his life. No! He did it for his family so that we could have a dad and a husband and a son and a brother and a friend.He fought to get healthy again for us! And he won! Today a stranger would not know anything through plain sight or conversation.My dad has come a long way, an understatement, he has come worlds from where he was in 2004. It is all because of his heart and will.Thank you God so much for my father! I am blessed to have a dad as strong as him!And after all of the fights and arguments we have had!If I were to learn only one thing from my dad it would be how to keep on trucking. If nothing else I hope I inherited his heart!Dad, I have taken you for granted and I cannot express how much I am amazed at you and how much you are my hero and how much you are the fuel that keeps me going.I love you dad and I am so proud of you and I want everyone to know it!" |
Dear God, I just want to thank you for all the miracles that have come to our family through this tragic accident. While we may not understand everything, we trust that you kept Jay through it all and are still working miracles through it.
Thank you for all the incredible doctors and nurses at UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences-an amazing hospital where people come from all over the world--and we are especially grateful for the incomparable trauma unit), for thousands of prayers that went up for Jay from all around the world, and that you held all of us in the hollow of your hand during this difficult time.
I pray that you will continue to bless Jay and his family because there are still many challenges as a result of the accident and they need you everyday, just as we all do.
You are faithful O God--you are faithful!
© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted
