remembering a bus crash

you have those times in your life you will never forget, right?

i remember riding home with my mother and sister after some shopping. we had gone to jack-in-the-box. we had just dropped off my sister's friend, ann. i was still drinking my soda. looking up, i saw a car ahead in our lane coming the opposite direction.  that car crashed into us. i screamed. my drink spilled all over my lap. an old man-  a drunk old man had hit us. no one was hurt, but i still remember the chaos and police cars and my sister's friend and her mom running out and helping us.

last month ceily had one of those experiences.

she was riding home from school and her bus was in an accident with an ice cream truck.

i had a phone call telling me she was on the way to the hospital.

after trying to find her, and wondering and worrying for about 30 minutes we finally found her and this is what we saw.



well, actually, as soon as i poked my head in, she started to cry. i rushed in and took her hand. i tried hard to not freak out and cry myself. she looked really bad. i hadn't been nervous before, but after seeing her for the first time, i felt nervous.



as we stood there she described what had happened. they were heading home from school. ceily was sitting in the front seat opposite the bus driver. she remembers looking up and seeing the ice cream truck swerve into their lane. after that she doesn't remember what happened. she does remember having blood everywhere and trying to get off the bus.   (i asked her after why she was sitting in the front seat. she said she always sits there. she hates the bus. quick on. quick off.)



she had so much glass from the window shield in her hair, in her shirt, in her bra, down her back, in her shoes and in her face and forehead. every time she would shake her head, handfuls of glass would spill out! (weeks after she is finding little pieces of glass still in her face.)



the worst wound was a gash on her forehead. they said it was about 1/4 inch deep. ceily had an out of body when they even mentioned stitches, so she opted out. the doctor said it was probably better because it would give an opening for the glass to come out. i think there is still pieces remaining.

it was crazy the amount of blood. we were positive she had a bigger cut somewhere hidden by her massive curls, but we never found one. she tells the story that as everyone was getting off the bus, the boy that was helping everyone down, wouldn't help her because she was so bloody. she was so afraid to look at her face because she thought if she looked it was "going to be torn off."



but the best part, if there can be a best part to a bus accident, is she was interviewed by the local news. she even invited one of the reporters into her room and gave him an exclusive cell phone video interview. later after she was released from the hospital, the reporter came to the house and interviewed her again. she was gracious and eloquent and explained she was glad her face wasn't ripped open and grateful nothing more serious had happened. she closed the interview by explaining she would never ride a bus again.

she has held true to that statement.  every day at 2pm, she gets a ride home in the mini van.

what IS UP?

so, can i even remember what's going on here?
i can try.


after the ghost whisperer ended, i have yet to find a new obsession.  that's ok.  i've been playing drawsomething for a few weeks now.  that counts.


it's almost time for school to end.  the weather is turning warm. ticks have appeared. that i do not like.  at all. they are gross. 


today i actually have my air conditioner on.  we opened the pool today for good.  eddie and ceily are almost finished with spring sports.  ceily has one more field hockey game to play.  eddie will play two more lacrosse games and be done.  


we still have piano lessons once a week.  sometimes it's once every other week.  that works too.  every child still complains.


lana and noah play soccer three times a week.  our saturdays are spent getting everyone to where they need to be.  it can be hectic.  but it's a good hectic.  there's nothing better than watching your children do something they enjoy.  


i'm still waiting for them to enjoy piano and chores.  still no luck.


noah turned 8.  he is a wonderful 8 year old. he's happy and funny and energetic and kind and smart and good.  


he aspires to be a football player, or a police man.  he loves soccer right now.  he's our competitive one.  but he's also gentle.  his football coach called him the "gentle giant."  his football coach wished he could have called him the ferocious one.  he reminded me the other day we are very lucky to have him in our family because he has mad video game skills.  the levels would not be reached if he didn't live with us.  
most important, he got baptized.  i can't believe he's the last one. 


i need to take the time to post about eddie and his love of lacrosse. he's a good player.  he's strong and able and excited.  tonight he had two penalties for illegal checks.  i have no idea why they were illegal, because the other two checks were not, but he was proud he knocked guys down. he's also smelly because he plays so hard.  i just told him today i will gladly wash his pads, but i refuse to dig them out.  i draw limits sometimes.  eddie has gotten way tall.  he's growing up.  his voice is even changing... :) he makes us all laugh.


ceily surprised us all and said yes to field hockey.  she's good.  she will disagree if asked, but we see her talent.    
she came back from practice tonight and her legs and knees and bum were dirty.  she plays hard too.
she babysits and she's good at that too.  the children love her.  she likes/loves/adores/obsessively checks facebook.  i guess that's par for teenagers.  she's kind and gentle and everyone wants to be her friend.  it's always a little bit more fun when ceily is around.  


 
lana still will not clean her room.  she's a stubborn one.  but i'll keep her.  she's a hard worker.  she's way good at soccer.  she plays hard too.  she was invited to join a travel league, but they play on sunday.  
she's a kind sister.  she's a good and kind friend. (pictured with her bff above.)  she notices those that need and makes them feel loved.  she starting to shave her legs.  i had to do it for her the first few times, but now she's an expert.  


life sure is different when there's no more diapers, or potty training, or sippy cups, or high chairs, or naps, or constant eagle eye watching.  i'm enjoying my big kids.  they work hard, they play hard, they do good things, they are kind.  


i am lucky.
i am blessed.