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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

100 New Gray Hairs


Today I sprouted about
100 new gray hairs.

I wanted to make it to age 40
without dyeing my hair
but today may have
done that plan in.

What happened, you ask?

My three dear, sweet, lovely
reason-I-get-up-in-the-morning
children
were involved in a bus crash
this morning on the way to camp.

If that doesn't scare the
living daylights out of you,
nothing ever will.

I was hanging out at home this morning
when I heard the doorbell ring.

When I went to the door,
I find Kate's friend Clarissa's mom
at the door.

When I opened it
she says "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

Perplexed, I said
"Because the phone hasn't rung!"

I don't know about you,
but if the phone doesn't ring,
I don't answer it.
LOL

Anyway, God bless her little heart,
she had driven over to tell me that
my three kids were fine but they
were at the hospital.

WHAAAAAAT?

Are you kidding me?

I very quietly nearly had a heart attack.

I am so thankful she had the wherewithal
to preface that with
"Your kids are all right."

She gives me the phone number
of the paramedic that had been trying to call.


I (hopefully politely) slam the door
in her face and run for the phone.

(and get this-
there are 12 phone messages on my machine
from people trying to call me.
What the hell was wrong with the phone??)

So as I am calling the paramedic,
Rob beeps in,
"Where have you been? I've been trying to call you!!!"

No time for this right now,
I have to get to the kids.

So I find out where they are
and run out to the van.
I drive quickly,
if I get pulled over then fine, I'll just a
freaking escort.

I get to the hospital
run into the ER
find my babies
and hug them
and hug them
and hug them.

They are tired of this hugging pretty quickly
but not me.

I hug them some more.

They were happy as little clams.

They had been given stuffed animals
(How great is that? Isn't that sweet?)
and crackers and stickers.
They had stories to share about
riding in an ambulance and stretchers
and adventures.

All I could think about was:
1) they were safe and sound
and
2) all my children were in danger, at the same time.

I have been forcing myself to not imagine
the what-ifs, the alternate endings.

Thank you, God, for keeping my children
safe from harm,
for my older daughter, who comforted my sons
and kept them all together until I got there,
for the bus driver, whose quick reflexes
helped to prevent a minor accident from being a major one,
for the paramedic, who stayed with my children until I arrived
at the hospital room.

Each day is a blessing
and I know I am really good at forgetting that.

Today, I had a clear reminder.


Hug your kiddos.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank God they were alright, Leeann! Every day with our children is a blessing (even when it doesn't feel that way)
Melissa

Lori ~ The Simple Life at Home said...

Oh my gosh, how scary!! I'm so glad they are ok, Leeann. What a frightening thing. So did you get them off to camp in the end or did they just come and hang out at home? Wow. I want to go kiss my babies right now, but that would wake them up and we can't have that now, can we?!

Leeann said...

Totally true, Melissa. And yes, I am very grateful that they are fine!
Leeann

Leeann said...

Hi Lori,

You know, I just did what felt right in terms of the kids going to camp. Both Kate and Chris wanted to go (for French and swimming) and Trey didn't want to go to camp or ride the bus ever again. So as I was taking the older kids, I decided that given that this is Trey's limited bus experience, I really didn't want him to be afraid of buses in the future. Ultimately, I stayed with him for an hour at camp and then put him back up on the proverbial horse and had him ride. The trip home via bus was uneventful, he came off all smiles and none of them seem any worse for wear, except that Kate has a sore noggin. I did bring her home with me instead of having her return to camp so I could have her rest and woke her up to check on her tonight as well.
Hugs,
Leeann

Anonymous said...

I thank the Lord that they are unscathed as well! I have already sent a prayer to God thanking Him for protecting my precious grandchildren! That is really scary. You see bus accidents on the news, but never think it'll be your own children or grandchildren. Thank you for calling me and alerting me before I saw it. When it happens to ALL of your children at the same time, it really makes you think and reflect. They had a special angel keeping watch over them today.
Guess it's a good thing my hair is already white!!
Get your phones checked. That's scary!

Anonymous said...

OMG! How freaking scary! The only thing worse than having one of your children in an accident is having ALL of your children in an accident. Thank God they are all Okay! I am proud of Kate...she did a great job! I'll go hug my kiddos now....thanks for reminding us all about how blessed we really are. Did you ever find out what was up with the phone???

Shelli

Heather said...

Oh my goodness Leeann. A great ending to a very scary story! Better to have gray hairs than none at all, which is what I think would have happened to me - I would have pulled them all out.

Heather