So Thankful

Ok I know I promised pictures of my wagon "redo", however this post is way more important, takes precedence, is close to my heart, whatever you want to call it.

Sunday, August 5th, Chris left for his motorcycle trip. He left way before the sun was even up, so I hardly remember him kissing me goodbye. I do remember telling him twice within a 30 second time span to be careful. Little did I know that I either jinxed him or it was foreshadowing his future of what was bound to happen anyways. Sunday was a good ride for him. They rode all the way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they stayed for the night. (Below) One of the places they ate at....?

Early Monday morning, he called to say they were getting back on the road but that they were riding into a storm so things were going to be kind of sketchy. He assured me he had on all of his rain gear on top of all his normal riding gear and that he was being extra careful. By early afternoon, they had passed through the storm into clearer skies. They were going through Yellowstone National park which is where he took and sent me the pictures of Old Faithful and a video of two bears. Yes I said TWO bears!!! (I tried uploading the video but it wouldn't let me....sigh...whatever)

Traffic was very bad because there were lots of Buffalo in the road that refused to move. Everything was fine but just kind of at a stand still.

A couple hours later, I was getting off work, rushing to pick up Cody so I could still make it to Clay's daycare before they closed...and I got the call. I was already frazzled. Moments before, Cody's babysitter gave me her two week notice, Clay's daycare was giving me issues. So after just unloading on Chris, he calmly said, "well not to make your day any worse....but....I laid the bike down.."

I was speechless. A million and one things were running through my mind. Was he ok? Was he wearing a helmet? Was he ok? Did anyone see it happen? Was he alone? Was he ok? Was it his fault? Was anyone hurt in the accident? Was he ok? How bad was the bike? How was he going to get it home? Was it even drivable? WAS. HE. OK? Obviously, because he was talking to me, he was ok enough to call me. After hearing the story, Chris is physically fine. His hand was badly bruised and swollen but not broken (thanks to the x-ray results from today's dr. visit). He scraped his knee, but it didn't rip his jeans, and he has a huge black and purple bruise on his hip. Nothing serious or life threatening. But mentally and emotionally he was not ok. And I knew EXACTLY what he was going through.

With Chris, on this motorcycle trip, were 6 or 7 of his buddies. Moments before thhe accident, everyone was on the side of the road looking at the two bears from across the river. Shortly after, everyone was ready to go, but Chris wasn't, so he waved them all ahead knowing he wouldn't be far behind them. Chris was fumbling to put his camera away which was holding him up. When he finally got back on the road, he could still see his group up ahead. They were following a truck that was pulling a trailer on a two lane highway. The truck wasn't going the speed limit-due to a van that was in front of it. But nobody knew about the van because the truck was following it too closely to be seen from behind. So they all decided to pass the truck/trailer going about 45 mph. Everyone passed the truck and then it was Chris's turn. As Chris was passing the truck, the van decided to take a left hand turn right in front of him. In a split second, Chris's choices were A) hit the van straight on and be thrown several yards over the van or B)lay the bike on it's side and pray that he didn't go under the van or be hit by the truck behind it, much less oncoming traffic. In that split second he saw the eyes of a child in the back seat of the van. He knew that if he hit the van straight on he would surely injure the child in the back seat, so he chose B). From the time Chris slammed on his brakes to impact, he had 20 feet to make that decision. And thank goodness he did, because it saved his life-along with the fact that he was wearing his helmet, leather jacket, boots, etc. He was ok. REALLY shaken up, but ok. The cops and everyone that came to help were flabbergasted saying he should be alive, much less walking away unscathed. Truly a miracle.

At first glance his bike was not great but not totaled. Closer look? It's pretty bad and is going to need alot of work. Thank goodness for full coverage insurance and (only) a $500 deductible, right? After calling a tow truck, the boys rode to a near by town outside of Yellowstone and got hotel rooms where Chris could assess the damage and figure out what his next step was. He was restless that night, replaying the accident over and over again in his mind, GRATEFUL that he was alive but not knowing how. So by morning he was exhausted. He wanted to be home with his family. So he rented a U-Haul truck and towed the bike home. By 9pm Chris was home. He sat and hugged and kissed me and the boys over and over again and wouldn't let go. It was extremely emotional for all of us.
Cody was so excited Chris was home. He is definately a Daddy's boy.

I needed to "document" this story/experience as a reminder, to me and my family how truly blessed we are. Talking with my Mom Monday night, she was telling me about her bi-weekly ritual of putting all of her children on the temple prayer list. Last week she had a few minutes to spare before having to be somewhere so she called to put her kids and their spouses on the prayer list, as usual. For some reason she didn't have enough time to put everyone on the list, but surprisingly one name that DID make it was Chris'. I couldn't believe it. I knew right away why and how Chris walked away from that accident. I am so, so, so very thankful for the power of prayer. It works and I have proof.

Funny side story.
Monday after telling me about the accident Chris was telling me that his ear was hurting really bad. Tuesday when he got home, he asked me to look in his ear because it was hurting so bad. I didn't see anything. Wednesday morning he again asked me to look because it was still bothering him. I looked again and found nothing, but suggested he ask the dr when he went to get his hand checked out. He forgot. I came home for lunch and he was laying down. His ear was bothering him alot so I got a flashlight and looked inside and THIS is what I found/pulled out...

When Chris got in the accident he was wearing ear buds. His helmet pushed up against and broke the ear bud off IN his ear!!! Crazy huh?