...and four days later...crunch...

...I was in a car accident.

The morning of Tuesday October 12th...7:30 am PST, downtown Medford next to the Rogue Community College campus, I stopped for pedestrians wishing to cross the busy three-lane north-bound avenue.  There's a sign that says "Stop at this --> white line for pedestrians" and the arrow is pointing toward the pavement.  There are three of these white lines in each lane.  If one car stops, they are all supposed to stop and that morning they did, right after I stopped in the far right lane.  I had just glanced over to my right where the two people waited to cross.  There was a click and then my world went black...

People have been listing on Facebook the things they are thankful for.  I've thought about my answers to that for a while now as I have been recovering from the accident.  I am thankful for a God so brilliant he puts the idea of superb engineering and technology in the heads of mere mortals so that other mortals might have a chance to live.  Some call my accident a simple fender bender.  It was far from that, especially if the vehicle that hit you sends you across three lanes of traffic and half a block up from where you started...not good.

There is nothing about losing consciousness or having a concussion that is simple.  It was far more than a "fender bender".  Sure, I didn't lose any extremities or bleed out from internal injuries, or break any bones.  And that is because my car was made of heavy steel and a frame that gave no quarter to the impact and subsequent flinging around that, maybe in another car, would have caused more injury.  The car and those who made it, saved me from things being much different than they turned out to be.  I have written BMW to thank them for such a great little car.  1990 was a very good year.

I am thankful for the prayers my parish have sent up on my behalf, for the prayers of those on Facebook and in my local community who have been supportive and caring to call to check in on me, bring me Eucharist and wait patiently for me to walk to the lectern to read the lesson, or help lift the cup to their lips when I first returned and served the altar.  I'm thankful for the assistance and understanding of coworkers too.

I am thankful too for my parish church, Trinity Ashland, for healing prayers and sending m home communion by way of lay Eucharist ministers, for the phone calls with offers of food, care and concern and offers of general help.  You know who your family is when they take care of you like I was and still am by my parish family.

From the outside, the hit doens't look that bad but the frame was bent from the back to the mid-line support right behind the driver and passenger seats, so much so that the back doors had to be pried open they were so jammed shut.  So there it is.

What's really weird too is that only four days before the accident I had signed up my "tag team" on my Advanced Health Care Directive and had theirs and my signature witnessed over coffee.  Talk about timing...there is nothing more comforting than having a retired trauma and surgery nurse and LMT [licensed massage therapist] as your main representative and a certified medical assistant--both close friends--as my "tag team".   Who need I would need them so soon?  One never can tell.  So if you don't have an Advanced Directive signed for the state you live in, DO IT.  Don't put it off.  Keep a copy in your briefcase or bag, or better yet, digitally scanned and in your phone or laptop.  Make sure your local hospitals have it scanned into their database.  Take it with you on trips, foreign or domestic. 

 It's good to write again...I see it as part of my recovery.  It's important to talk about things and since you reading this, you must care to know what happened in a more reflective narrative, so, Wallah!

Take good care everyone and be safe and prepared.

Blessings,

Catherine