A Year in Review

By looking at the date of my last post, anyone can tell how long it has been since I've updated my blog.  Yes, it's been a busy year, but I still wish I had done more personal writing.  I say personal writing because I sure did enough academic writing.

This June, I started working where I left off in 2005 on my doctoral degree.  I've really had to adjust to being back in school while teaching.  I've missed out on many things I would have liked to have done, but in the end it will be worth it, and I'm not going to allow myself to miss out on the really important stuff, the stuff that will really make a difference.

The other "really big" thing that happened in June was the tree falling on Collin.  I was at the kitchen table working on an essay, in fact, when I heard what I thought was a clubhouse the boys built fall.  I ran outside and heard someone screaming from the woods behind the house.  I started running down the trail when Collin's friend, Zander, ran to meet me telling me that a tree had fallen on Collin.  When I got to where he was, I found him trapped under an oak tree with his leggs folded underneath his body.  He was screaming, and although it scared me to death, it was a welcome sound because he was able to make it.

I had not taken my cell phone with me, so after trying to calm him a bit, making sure he wasn't bleeding anywhere, and, of course, trying to move the tree, I had to come back to the house to call for an ambulance while I sent Zander next door to get Collin's granddad to help.  I got help on the way, while Charles, Collin's granddad, got a car jack and got the tree off of him.

Soon the ambulance, a couple of fire trucks, and a police officer or two arrived at the house and began their work.  All were amazed that all of his injuries appeared to be minimal.  There weren't even that many scratches where the tree directly hit him.  Someone mentioned that angels had been watching over him.  I said, "No, I think God handled this one himself."

Things began to look a little different, though, when we got to the hospital and began the x-rays.  After a fair length of time, the on-call ER physician came in to tell us that Collin's hip was fractured in three different places and that the surgery he needed could not be done in Texarkana.  I couldn't understand; Collin seemed to be okay.  He was in good humor, in a little pain, but nothing unbearable.  I asked the doctor how it could be that he wasn't hurting any more than he was.  He told me:  "I can't explain it; I don't know how he's not screaming right now."  So, Collin was still in braces from head to foot from the ambulance that could now not be removed because he could not be allowed to move.  Plans went into immediate action to fly us to Little Rock Children's Hospital.  In critical cases (and at this point, we were considered to be a critical case) LRCH sends their own helicopter, the Air Angel, with a team of nurses and a resident physician on board, so it took a while. 

Only one parent could ride, so Chuck took the helicopter ride while I drove.  On the way, I made phone calls and prayed, assuming that Collin would be in surgery when I arrived at Children's Hospital.

I had called Taylor on the way and he told me that he would be at the hospital when I got there.  So, I called his phone when I arrived and he met me in the parking lot and took me to Collin's room.  When I walked in, he was sitting up in bed, sipping a sprite, and watching a movie...with a smile on his face!  Further x-rays, which had been read by a team of pediatric surgeons,  revealed that Collin's hip was indeed broken, but only in one place.  Furthermore, it was a clean break and required no surgery!  It would heal on its own.  The other places that the ER physican had mistaken for "breaks" were growth plates.  They kept Collin overnight for observation and sent us home late the next day.  However, by this point, any time he moved he was in pain.  Simply moving was a struggle.  But we have so much to be thankful for...we have our heathy son.  As for the offending tree...well, even though it was dead, it made some great firewood.

Needless to say, that wins the prize for "Event of the Year," but we've got a couple of other honorable mentions.  Trey graduated from UCA in December 2009 and immediately joined the army.  In fact, when we went to his graduation from Basic Training in July, Collin was still on crutches and in a wheelchair for lengthier distances.  As I type now, he is in Fort Bliss where he has just returned after driving for 13 hours to visit us for Christmas.

This was Taylor's first year out of the house.  He assumed rent in the house where Trey lived before he left for Basic Training.  After Trey left, Taylor had the opportunity to roommate with old friends from Camp Pioneer staff days.

Christian graduated from high school in May.  For the past year, it has been taken for granted that he would be attending Texarkana College because his grades weren't good enough to qualify him for scholarships.  We were hoping he could go here for a couple of years and earn a transfer scholarship.  However, a few weeks before school was out he woke up one morning and said, "I want to go away to school."  In addition, he dreamed of playing college soccer.  And somehow, the kid made it happen.  He's attending Central Baptist in Conway where he plays on the soccer team.

I'm so proud of all of my boys for many different reasons, but mostly for just being who they are.