Life Lessons:

Twelve years ago today, January 12th, 1995 was a day that my life was forever changed. That morning on the way to work I was involved in a very serious car accident. I was hit almost head-on by an 81 year old man who failed to yield as I was crossing over to enter the highway. I wound up with 2 broken legs, a couple of scratches and bruising both internally and externally. I was wheelchair bound for 1 year and it was exactly 9 months after the wreck that I stood erect for the first time.

Every year at this time I think of that accident and the lessons I learned from it:

*there are angels everywhere - immediately after the wreck a passer-by stopped and sat outside my car talking to me until the paramedics arrived. I was fully conscious the whole time and knew "something" was wrong but had no idea the extent of my injuries. This man (whose name I never knew) kept me calm, prayed with me, and did everything possible to keep my mind occupied so I would not focus on the injuries

*we are blessed to have an awesome network of family and friends - I believe I had the largest crowd present in the waiting room, not only as I was awaiting surgery but even during the marathon 8 hour surgery that day to repair my legs. I had such a constant stream of visitors and phone calls while I was in ICU that eventually the nurses had to tell Paul that he needed to tell people to stop calling. I was hospitalized for 7 days and we kept logs of all my visitors and the number exceeded 50. I also had enough flowers and plants to open my own florist shop.

*don't ever take the simple things in life for granted - everyday tasks that are second nature to us like washing your hair, getting dressed, brushing your teeth, and going to the bathroom are very complicated when you are confined to a hospital bed 24 hrs a day

*attitude is key whenever we face adversity in life - the thought never crossed my mind that I would not walk again, even after several complications and my own body's inability to regrow the bones

*everyone needs a little humbling now and then - one day I was a 21 year old thinking I was invincible and the next I was confined to a hospital bed in my parent's living room wearing Depends undergarments. My family had to perform even the most basic tasks for me and I never heard a complaint out of any of them. I distinctly remember my mom coming home from work in the afternoon and filling up 5 gallon buckets with water so that we could wash my hair while I leaned my head off the side of the bed.

*when Paul said "in sickness and in health" he REALLY meant it - your parents are your parents and you know that they will always be there for you but Paul's and my marriage was severely tested pretty quickly and he never faltered in his love, compassion, and care for me even when I took out my frustrations out on him.

These are just a few of the several hundred lessons I learned during my recovery period. I wound up having 5 surgeries on my legs and still have a rod and a plate in one. I can walk, I can run (it ain't pretty), and when I am especially tired I have one heck of a limp but I don't complain because you know what: I CAN WALK!!!

I became a nurse a few years after this life lesson and I can truly say that I have a certain compassion for my patients that cannot be taught in any book but is learned when you go through it. To this day I still use some of my own creative ways of maneuvering in a wheelchair with my patients and they never fail to ask "how did you figure out to do it like that?"

My mother always says "Everything Happens for a Reason" and "God doesn't give you more than you can handle". It has taken me a while to realize how true those phrases are. I learned patience, compassion, humility, perseverance, dedication, and the love of family during my recovery, and even though they were hard lessons I can truly say I am a better person because of this experience.

So the moral of the story is: Live life to fullest, don't take anything for granted, and always be kind ('cause you never know who may be putting you on the bedpan)!!!