{Reflecting}

One year ago today I received a phone call from my Dad telling me that my sister was in a bad car accident. She was being flown to the U and was in critical condition. I BAWLED! Besides my husband my sister is my best friend. My whole family was stressed. Was she going to live? What damage had happened to her? What would be the outcome of this all? She was 7 months pregnant at the time, so we were all also worried about her little girl inside of her (who is the cutest little girl-love her-for sure a miracle baby)! Thankfully no one else was hurt. They had hit a cow, it hit her side of the car and pretty much smashed her face. Then it flew over and landed behind them.

I remember going up to the hospital to see her for the first time. Up to that point I had been crying several times a day (my poor husband, and the guys I worked with had to put up with a ton of emotions that I was putting out.) and i was not sure if I would be able to keep it together in front of her and be strong for her. I love my sister so much, and to see her in pain put me in pain. To think that I almost lost her hurts. I walked into the room and there she was lying on the bed. It was hard to see her. I cried, and cried and tried not to let her see. I held her hand and cried more. We would start to talk and I would cry. I was not strong. Later on she actually didn't remember me coming. She had asked me why I never visited her in the ICU when in fact I had been there several times. She had so much done to her it was hard to see her like that. A couple of surgeries and a very long recovery that is still going on to this day. She was so strong and so brave the whole time. She had so much help from so many different people and I was so thankful for that.

Anyways i drove down to my moms today to make applesauce and can apples and Jason made a "funny" and said to be careful becuase to day was the one year anniversary of my sisters car accident. He told me to watch out for cows. The thing was it was in my mind the whole drive down and back up. I kept a look out for any movement on the sides whether it be a deer or a cow. I thought of how my brother in law must have felt to see his wife bleeding next to him on a cold November night and not know if she would be ok. I thought of my two nephews who thought that their mom had died then come back to life. And then I thought of the joke that my little nephew made up (which we all thought was clever) it goes like this...

Ryan: why did the cow not cross the road?

me: why?

Ryan: Because it died!

We all laughed so hard. It was so cute.

It's amazing how someones life can be turned upside down in a matter of seconds. Things change forever. My sister still can't taste food or smell. She gets bad headaches all the time. She can't drive sometimes because her blood pressure drops so low that she passes out. She looks different (i still think she is beautiful) and these are all because of something that happend so fast. But she still had so much to be grateful for. That her baby is healthy and beautiful, that her 2 boys didn't get hurt and that her husband survived and didn't get hurt and was able to get help to help her. I can tell that she treasures the time with her family. She goes on dates with her hubby all the time. She live life. So take the time to reflect on your life and appreciate it. Change the way you do things. Tell your spouse everyday how much you love them. You never know what can and will happen in your day.

Anyways, sorry to get all mushy. I promise I am almost done. I just want my sister to know how grateful I am that she is still here on this earth. For the great example that she is. For the great faith and strength that she has. I love you cari. For her story, go to her blog. It's just on the side under Bill & Cari Greer. I hope she doesn't mind that I posted these pictures.