Since I attended most of high school in the Philippines, and my coordination was awful (knowing now it was from the brain injury) I was driver license-less until the age of 19, almost 20. To make a long story short, two days before my 20th birthday, having only been driving for about 3 months, I had a car accident in my parents car (they were still living in the Philippines) and I totaled the front end beyond repair.
For some, or most, this may not be a big deal, but for me it was huge. The initial experience felt like a nightmare for me and it was years before I was able to drive again. I had finally gained my vehicular independence and it was gone- fast. I was frustrated that there didn't seem to be some grand reason why I'd had to experience that. I got through it the best I could but it was far from easy.
Rewind to a year ago- when I was asked to give a talk on gratitude in sacrament meeting. Thinking about what I could say, I thought first about having to withdraw from the teaching program 3 months shy of graduation. However, this was followed by "but if that hadn't happened, then a,b,c,d may not have happened." Displaying a lack of humility, I declared myself to be pretty good at being grateful.
Then the humility kicked in.... and I realized that I didn't have much gratitude in spite of the car accident. I wasn't fully driving yet, but I'd had a lot of practice by then. It was a start. I decided that it was a great time to make a list of car accident gratitude.
Here is the list:
- Right after the car accident happened, neighbors surrounded the car and started asking me if they could call someone for me. I started giving them names and phone numbers- and they started making phone calls
- They were able to get a hold of my Uncle Russell, and he came to the scene just as they were loading me into the ambulance on a body board. (Not trying to be dramatic, that's just how it happened!) I will always be grateful that he was there, and even though I couldn't see him, just hearing his voice gave me comfort.
- My Uncle Russell also followed the ambulance to the hospital, waited with me while I was waiting for a doctor, kept me company since I was immobilized and could only stare at the ceiling, and wiped dried blood off my face- not too much blood, though. Just scratches and a very fat lip.
- Grateful that at least the EMT's in the ambulance were calm- I was hysterical! Not a result of their efforts to try and calm me, though....
- I did hit another car, and there were people in the car, but no one was seriously hurt, nor was I.
- When the airbag deployed, I got chemical burn marks on my clothes- my sister Jenn, cleaner extraordinaire, got my clothes clean again!
- Jenn also arranged for me to get to the towing yard (after several phone calls) and retrieve my personal items from the car.
- Another thing she (Jenn) did, seriously an act of love, was that since I didn't have my insurance info with me at the hospital, so I started getting bills. She arranged to have them sent to her house, so I didn't have to worry about it. (I was stressed enough without bills.....)
- I did have to go to court- I had never even been to the princpal's office before and there I was pleading guilty to "failure to yield?" Yeah, it was a bit surreal.... but the fine I had to pay was small! ($95.00, I think) And again, Jenn was there with me!
P.S. Unrelated to this post... due to the fact my current schedule is intense and time consuming, I will be taking a leave of absence from grad school until I take one class in the summer, back at it again in the fall. It won't delay my graduation, it will make next year's spring semester more full, but I would rather have one really hard semester, knowing that this is the end, then keep going year round and have 3 consecutive kind of hard semesters. Besides my brain needs a break!
Happy holidays, Everyone!
