A Year Later

Today marks one year since the horrific accident that almost took our son's life. And after we learned his life would be spared, we were prepared to have our hands full with a very mentally handicapped little boy. But here we are and we are so thankful.

Today was hard. Harder than I expected. I contemplated taking a mental health day but I am slammed at work so I decided I couldn't take the day off. But really I just wanted to hold my baby (who's not so much a baby anymore). As I read the first post and the ones after, I remembered how hard it was to not be able to hold Isaac for the first four days he was in the hospital. In fact at first they didn't want us to touch him - to keep the stimulation to a minimum. Man did it feel amazing when I was able to hold him again.

The feelings of a year ago kept coming back today as time ticked on. First the 9 o'clock hour rolled by - and I got the call from my friend somewhere in that first hour. Then in the 10 o'clock hour I had rushed to her house, hopped in the ambulance and made way to the Olympia airport. There, I waited and waited and waited for them to bring Isaac out and put him on the helicopter - just to give him a kiss before he got on. Then my friend drove me up to Mary Bridge where I met Lyndon and some friends, then my mom and Justin came but my dad was in Alaska already trying to hop a flight back. And then the news just got worse and worse. First the swollen brain, then the puncture lung, the fractures, the imminent brain damage. All between noon and about 3pm. Lyndon and I stepped out for a breath of fresh air in the stifling heat and we held our heads and cried. We didn't understand what had just happened or why. And today I remembered a complete stranger that approached us and asked if he could wrap his arms around us and we prayed. More friends kept pouring into offer their love and support that afternoon/evening. Wow....we are blessed.

So when I thought about mourning today, my friend pointed out it's a time to look forward and not back and that is how I picked myself up from the dumps I found myself in as the day wore on.

Lyndon picked Isaac up early from school today and took him to the park to play. Then when I got off work, we decided to head to the fire station that responded to the 911 call and see if any of the medics that responded were there. And one was! He remembered everything about that day. They were at the station when they got the call and he said that while they were working on him, he was seizing (I did not know this). He described some of what they were doing in the ambulance for so long. I had wondered all along if perhaps they had lost him for a bit in there but he said no. His heart had never stopped beating. They were so pleased we came by and showed him everything on that fire engine (the ambulance was gone). The kids both thoroughly enjoyed their time and I'm so glad we did it!

Here are a few pictures from the visit.

All in all, I'm glad this day is over and we will continue to look forward!