Happy Easter! Ours began great. Tyson had stayed the night at his dad's house the night before for a belated birthday celebration. I picked him up early and we went to church with my friend, Bridget, and her family in Ashland. They had coffee, hot chocolate, and goodies there. The service was held outdoors and it was pretty chilly but very enjoyable nonetheless. Tyson & I have both missed going to church & agreed that we need to go back more often.
Afterward, we went with Bridget to her parents' ranch out by Emmigrant Lake & had a BBQ. Tyson got really excited upon hearing that they had a quad and would let him ride it around the property. After a 2-minute tutorial, he was off and running, beginning at a snail's pace and gradually becoming more confident. I know Tyson is a safe & responsible kid & he was wearing a helmet, so I wasn't too concerned. He was so proud of himself that he asked if he could give me a ride & I enthusiastically took him up on the offer, skirt & all. I told him to drive safely, since I didn't have jeans on to protect my legs if we wrecked. Everything was going fine until we drove up on the side of a hill & the steering locked when Tyson tried to turn out of the curve. Once I saw that we were headed straight for another quad that was parked by a fire pit, it was too late to say or do anything. We slammed into the parked quad at probably 25 mph or so & went flying. The quad we were riding didn't roll over onto us, thank goodness, but we were both thrown a significant distance, landing on the other side of the fire pit and somehow managing to avoid the broken glass bottles & nails that were everywhere on the ground around us. I landed straight onto my right side with no hands down for protection, landing on my hip & ribs, then continued to roll a few more times. Apparently, this is pretty much what happened to Tyson, too, since we ended up right next to each other on the ground. Several moments passed before either of us could see straight, much less realize what had happened & catch our breath. The first words out of Tyson's mouth were, "Mom, are you okay?" before he began wheezing in a way that terrified me & gave me visions of a rib jutting out through his skin or a stick puncturing his lung or some similarly fatal injury. I replied weakly, "I...think...so...You?" He said he thought he was, too. Then I said a word I never use in his company & he said that he was a dumb-ass. Nothing like a life-threatening crash to lower our inhibitions about swearing in front of the other! As much as I didn't want to move, I thought we should get up & walk back to the house to tell Bridget's parents that we might have damaged their 4-wheeler. Tyson was more concerned about me "getting sued" than his own injuries, bless his heart. On the walk back, he said that of course something bad happened. I asked him why he would say that & he reminded me that it was Easter morning 5 years ago that we got the call about Shannon. I couldn't believe it - this was the first year I hadn't thought about it. We managed to get back up the road to the house & Bridet's mom took one look at us & asked, "What happened? Did you wreck?" Considering that we were both covered in blood, dirt, and soot from the firepit, I thought this quesiton was a tad redundant & replied, "Uh, no. Why do you ask?" & then proceeded to tell them what had happened. We got cleaned up as best we could & came home to recouperate.
Tyson mainly just has some scrapes around his waist line & a bruised rib, but he's so young & athletic that he still went to basketball practice tonight. I, on the other hand, am a little worse for the wear & am having a hard time moving. When we came home, I soaked in the tub to get some of the dirt out of my scrapes because I'm too big a baby to scrub at them & then took some Advil & laid down for a nap. While I was napping, Seth came by to bring an Easter basket for Tyson & came up to check on me when he heard what had happened. He was very kind & sympathetic. When he left, I came downstairs & Ty & I curled up on the couch with a blanket & a movie. Seth came back a little while later with some leftovers from his Easter dinner with his fiance & her family & heated them up for us. I feel guilty for admitting this, but the whole time I was wondering what his ulterior motive for being so nice & thoughtful was. But as far as I can tell, there wasn't one...(?)
So, that was Easter. Today I had a math quiz that I'm not allowed to make up, so I had to throw on some sweats & take my gimp hiney to school, then pick up tapes in Ashland. When I was coming home, I figured that I should probably stop by Wal-Mart for some household items while I was out & managed to back into a truck in the parking lot. I didn't realize that I couldn't see clearly due to my inability to look as far as normal over my shoulder, but I completely didn't see him until it was too late & I'd backed into him. I felt like crying out of sheer frustration, but somehow held it together & exchanged insurance information with the guy, who was very cordial about the whole thing.
Anyway, I'm beat & am gonna take a couple more Advil/Aleve/Tylenol/whatever I can find & go to bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, consisting of math, a test in my music class, and core & cardio, which I'm not really sure how I'm going to do but figure I should at least show up & then go from there.
5 comments:
You poor poor baby! I had one wreck on a three wheeler (Tim was driving) we ran into a tree due to the darn thing refusing to turn... tore up my leg but I lived... and so will you... you poor poor thing! At our age (mine more than yours) we don't quite bounce back like those kids and teens do... but you will mend. The other accident (backing into the truck) is most likely a signal to "slow down" and "look behind you" but not so much in the literal sense, but in a much greater sense. You know, like when your neck hurts and you realize that someone has been around you that is "A pain in the neck" ... psycho symatic type of stuff... woo woo stuff... so pay attention- there's something you're supposed to be noticing.
And, Seth... hmmmm. will wonders never cease? Perhaps he's part of the equation, and you're to see your future more clearly by revisiting the past and really seeing it. (((shrugs))) my attempt at mini pyschology... Get better young lady.
Wow! What a rotten couple of days! I wish I was there to help you get through it all. I'm just so glad to hear that you are both somewhat alright! You'd think near-death (or at least the two accidents) should have gotten you out of a math test at the very least.
Try to take it easy while you recuperate. Give Tyson a (very gentle) hug from me and him to give you one back (also gently).
I love you guys! Please take good care of yourselves!!
No, at the VERY least, it should have gotten me out of working out in Core & Cardio. But she's a Nazi & I don't want another B in her class, so I showed up & did my best to participate.
Thanks for the sympathy, my dear sisters! Tyson's recovering quite nicely & I feel a little better every morning that I wake up.
And, Laura, while I do believe in the hidden signs that the universe tries to give us (and I promptly ignore), I really think the pain in my neck is due to the accident, which is why I couldn't turn to look behind me, but hey, what do I know? ;)
Amanda,
I just finally got around to reading your blog. I am so sorry that you had such a rotten day, but am so very, very grateful to God that you and Tyson are okay. I have heard of terrible outcomes on ATVs and such due to accidents. I hope the other family was understanding since the equipment sounds like the brakes were faulty.
Do take it easy and be gentle with your neck and shoulders while your injuries are healing. It may not be such a bad idea to go to a massage therapist or chiropractic to work out some of your kinks. They can probably spend a half hour or so just on the isolated area and bring some relief.
I know how frustrating it is to drive and not be able to have mobility to turn and look over your shoulder. I too had a neck injury some years ago when I was trying to learn to ride a small motorcycle. I was going too fast in a friend's yard and tried to make the turn but couldn't clear it. I ended up going head first over the handle bars landing head and neck first. It took a couple of weeks to recouperate. Meanwhile, while you endeavor to drive with your injuries, you may want to focus on slowing down and driving in the right hand lane so you don't have to turn your neck to look over your shoulder as much. Rely heavily on your mirrors and know at all times where traffic is around you (memorize cars around you). You may have to turn your torso a bit to look behind you at those moments when you have to look in your blind spots. And finally, if at all possible, try to stay clear of traffic so you don't have to manuever around them as much.
Be sure and keep up the pain reliever regimine with some icy-hot, this will keep swelling down and give you a little more mobility. You will want to keep the mobility happening, but just be really, really gentle and patient with your progress. You want to make sure you don't freeze up your neck and shoulders by not moving them at all, but you also don't want to reinjure or hinder healing to yourself by overdoing it. Key word here is balance.
You are in my prayers for a speedy recouperation. I love you babe!
One more thing to help you drive with your injuries: use your signals religiously! It never hurts to let others around you know that you want to get in a certain area so they can coordinate their moves with yours. I do this religiously - with or without injuries...
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