You probably thought you’d be seeing some photos soon of our progress in the courtyard, with our new pavers in place and the growing beds being filled up with dirt. But even though the stones are here and waiting for us to start using them…we’re in absolutely no shape to start doing anything at all with them.
On Tuesday, we were completely looking forward to meeting some lovely people who have been following my blog for a while and happen to have a fachwerk house like our own not too far from us. They live in America most of the year but do their best to make several trips to Germany throughout the year. After missing them the last several times they were here, we finally set up a meeting. Unfortunately, that didn’t get to happen quite as planned.
Shortly before we were to arrive at their home, Stefan, Mackenzie and I were involved in a rather bad car accident. As we crossed through a partially wooded intersection, a black station wagon came from our right side and plowed into the passenger side of Stefan’s Freelander (LR2 for those of you in America). Our SUV rolled between 1 and 3 times (we can’t remember but police and bystanders estimate this figure) and came to land on its roof. But thanks to what must have been an entire flock of guardian angels around us, all of us were able to walk from the car. Mack and I were on the side of the car where the other car made impact.
Ok, maybe “walk” is a bit of an overstatement when it comes to my condition. I had to be assisted from the car by several wonderful passers-by who stopped to help us. My left arm is broken, in addition to several right ribs. I also have a few other bumps and bruises. Stefan is also a bit banged up around the ribs and has a few nasty abrasions on his arms. And thanks to her amazing car seat (which will be getting a very special post all of its own) Mackenzie walked away with very few bumps or bruises at all.
We all spent some time in the hospital, and I actually just arrived home on Saturday morning. It’s been an emotional and stressful week for all of us but we are SO thankful to be alive and back together at home. We’ve been told on several occasions that the fact that any of us survived is a miracle. I can assure you that we have said many words of thanks and praise to God for saving us…apparently there must be some incredible things in store for all of us since we feel like we’ve cheated death more than once over the last 10 years.
We have been absolutely touched by the outpouring of support and compassion by our family and friends. At the drop of a hat, our neighbors came to get Ayla and took care of her until Stefan’s parents arrived for backup. Stefan’s parents were absolutely essential in the saved sanity of us all, especially since Stefan and Mackenzie went to separate trauma center for children 45 minutes away from my own hospital.
So instead of a bunch of gardening posts, you get to hear about my wonderful hospital staff, Mack’s expensive but totally worth it car seat, the essential oil remedies we’ve been using to help get ourselves healed up faster and more as we reflect on all that has happened and put it behind us.
If you take nothing else from all that I share here in the coming weeks, please remember to slow down and drive more carefully. Fatal accidents happen every day and we always think it won’t happen to us…until it does. On the Armed Forces Network (military radio station which happens to be the only one we get in English over here), they have a commercial which preaches to people the importance of driving safety. Their motto: “Drive to arrive.” Sometimes you just really can’t be too careful. And with all the distractions that our cars contain these days (from the navigation system to your iPod to your cell phone), one just has to slow down and remember to focus on the road. And remember, if you weren’t at fault like we weren’t, then it’s important to speak with a car accident lawyer. Nobody deserves to go through what we did, so stay safe!
Oh, and we’re no longer considering adding a Smart to our line-up. After this accident, we’re thinking either another Freelander (since considering what happened this car still definitely held up pretty well) or a BMW X3.
Thank God you are all safe!!!
Wow, that looks awful. I’m glad it wasn’t any worse for you!
.-= cliff1976´s last blog ..Rosemary Focaccia =-.
I’m so glad it wasn’t worse, and wish you a speedy recovery!
.-= CN Heidelberg´s last blog ..Beliebte Vornamen 2009 (Popular First Names 2009) =-.
Blessings that you are all safe (and for that carseat!) I was in a similar accident 4 years ago (plowed into basically), and i hope your recovery is swift, painless, and gentle……
I am so glad to hear that you guys are ok! I was at a loss for words as I read your post and my jaw just dropped from the picture of your car. I am so happy that all of you were able to walk away and that nothing more serious happened! I wish you all the speediest of recoveries, and I can’t wait to hear about the car seat since we are about to be moving Amelia into a new one soon. Get well soon!
.-= Jentry´s last blog ..Wieder in Deutschland =-.
Tiff,
I just opened this up Sunday morn before church and immediately added you three to our prayer list. We are so thankful.
Barb has has so many close calls with accidents.I have had none.Thank God and Jesus.We prayed ,by name, over & over, in church, for you three.
Thank goodness you’re all OK!
It’s an important message – NOTHING is more important when you’re driving, than driving…. ‘arrive alive’ as they say here. You just don’t know when your life could change in a single heartbeat.
Praise God you all are saved and were in God’s grace.You are in our prayers and thoughts as we go to church this morning. We will talk later. Thank God for the car seat that held Mackenzie, and seeing the car, you were wearing your seat belt.
Thank God you are all ok! It is truly incidents like these that show us what’s really important in life.
Sending healing thoughts your way.
.-= Cynthia ´s last blog ..AFA Gallery Show and Sale =-.
I am so happy to hear that you, Stefan and Mackenzie were ok! Everyone from our Simpson family is thinking about you all! Much love.
Yowza! That’s quite a smash-up! Thank God you’re all OK…and for car seats!
.-= Brenda´s last blog ..Name That…Thing =-.
OK, you guys can’t let something like this
happen again!!!! You scared us too much!! We talked to Grandpa and he told us everything and we are so HAPPY you all will be OK.
Love you all
Bob and Irene
Goodness, what a terrible looking wreck! Thankful to see that everyone was able to walk away. Hoping you guys heal up quickly.
I am so sorry! What a terrible accident–I am just glad the three of you are okay! Take time to heal, physically and emotionally.
.-= The Hausfrau´s last blog ..Haus Vignettes =-.
whoa! You definitely want to get one of those again. Glad you are all ok.
I work as a St John volunteer for our local ambulance service and I have already, in my relatively short career as a volunteer, seen way too many accidents which were preventable. Most of them due to high speed or inattention. Accidents do happen but it’s frustrating to see the ones which are clearly avoidable.
On the other hand, like in your experience, you can see that modern cars have a lot of safety built in to them. The sore/ broken ribs might be from the seat belt – a small price to pay, your air bags clearly deployed and the car crumpled nicely considering it rolled a few times, keeping you in a nice (though slightly crushed) cage inside. Little Mac must have been in an awesomely well designed car seat to come out unscathed. You had the best possible outcome considering what happened!
All the best in your recovery!
Thank goodness you are all OK. I hope you all heal quickly.
.-= Heidi´s last blog ..The Meatrix =-.
hallo ihr drei,
hab nen riesen schreck bekommne, als euer nachbar vom unfall berichtete. gut zu lesen, dass es euch den umständen entsprechend gut geht und ihr bald wieder auf dem dampfer seid !
auf jeden fall beste genesungswünsche auf karben!
alles gute
dachte mir, ich schreib mal lieber auf deutsch, bevor ich mich hier blamiere 🙂
jan
Looking at your car I thought: close call ! I had some of those happening to myself, each one – one too many.
I hope you’re all ok and able to leave this behind.
Best wishes,
Kurt
Tiffany! I’m speechless! I’m so grateful you all made it out alive…thank God. After I pick my jaw off of the floor, I’ll send a quick prayer for a speedy recovery 🙂
.-= Sandy Frascona´s last blog ..Saturday Afternoon QUICKIE – Dane Cook =-.
Thank you all so much for the prayers, positive thoughts and love. You have no idea how much it means to us. Things could have turned out SO differently and we are all very thankful to alive.
Hope you are all recovering well! And hope Ayla is being a good newf-nurse!
Thank God you all survived and the tiny one is okay!
Tiffany- that sounds bad. All the best for you from here!
At least you have time now to watch soccer:-)
Tiffany
I’m so sorry to hear about the accident. Thank God you and your family are safe. Car seats save lives and bigger cars are safer.
Kinga from Canada
Scary!!!!! I’m so glad to hear you are OK. I’m always so afraid of car accidents. 🙁