On Saturday, September 30, 2000, Mom called. She was coming to Kirbyville for her eldest grandson’s, Dustin, Pee-Wee football game. Mom had just had a colon resection done nine weeks prior. Her youngest grandson, at the time, had been sick. Mom was calling to see if Wes was well. When she called me, I told her that Wes was fine and that she would need to be here around noon. She told me she was leaving, had to stop to get cash and gas and then she would be on her way. My house is about 50 miles away from hers, so I figured she would be here with in an hour or so. As that time neared, I was beginning to wonder if she stopped to pick up lunch for us. As it got closer to noon, I decided that my husband, Chris, and Dustin should go to town and get hamburgers.
Chris called me on his cell phone and said there had been a wreck at the end of our road. The emergency crews called for Life Flight and were waiting for it to land on the highway. While Chris was on the phone with me, he asked what kind of cars were involved. The volunteer told him a small gold car and a small white truck. At that moment I knew in my heart who it was. Chris said let me check it out and I’ll call you right back. I started praying the second we hung up. I couldn’t wait a minute longer, so I called Chris. All he said when he answered was it’s your mom. I hung up the phone, jumped up screaming at Lauren, who was a sleep in the chair, and ran to the car. As I was flying down our dirt road Chris was coming back to stop me. I demanded to go down there to at least tell the crews about her surgery. The officer that I got to talk with told me that she was really bad and in Cardiac Arrest. They told us to get to the hospital and not to try to beat the helicopter.
We went back to the house. I put on my shoes and grabbed my address book. After we dropped the kids at a relatives house, we headed for the hospital. Besides trying to reach family, friends, and my pastor, all I can recall saying was “Please don’t let her die”. When we got to the hospital, Chris’s mom was there waiting and life flight had already arrived. After answering as many questions that I could, the hospital personnel put us into a family room. We made some more phone calls and then the doctor came in. He sat down with us and asked me if mom had any health problems. I told him what I knew and then with four simple words, my world fell apart. He told us “She didn’t make it.” He told us that he would come back after the other family arrived. One by one, my brother, my Father-in-law, 3 of mom’s closest friends, my sister and my pastor arrived. After we stood around in shock and cried with one another they told us we were able to go back to see her. That was really hard to do. When we went in there she was lying there so peacefully. She had some bruising to her face, and a laceration on her forehead. Other than that, there were no apparent injuries.
We later found out that, from the force of the impact, her Aorta was ruptured. She was stopped to turn on my road when she was hit from the rear at about 70 MPH. Thankfully she never knew what hit her. To this day we still do not know why this young man wasn’t paying attention to the road. Unfortunately his negligence killed someone. We all have a responsibility when we get in our car. Watch the road and the People around you.
That almost seems like a lifetime ago. God has done a mighty work in my mind and my heart since that day. He has giving me peace about the guy that hit her, being I live in the same town as him. He has delivered me from deep depression and has taken away that deep pain of grief. I miss her more than ever but it is different now then it was. Several years ago the hurt and grief was still so achingly strong but lately it has been more of a peaceful feeling and a flood of memories.
I love you mom and miss you dearly.......
