we love you abi: They say, "It's About the Journey...."

How wonderful would it have been if Abi, would have only had minor injuries and then been released?!? She would have had a very quick recovery and it would have been awesome. No frenzied prayers being sent up, no Camp Trauma Dragon in the waiting room, no bonding with friends new and old, no experiencing of the out pouring of love we received. We would not have experienced deep humbling fear, peace, love, joy. And we would not have been able to go on this journey. A Long Journey for all of us, but mostly for lil' Abi.

It is about the journey not the "getting there".

We all learned things about ourselves. I won't speak for anyone else. But there were things that I learned along the way. Things I am still learning because of this accident. Faith and hope are real! I knew that, but sometimes you need a reminder. Sometimes we take life for granted and we live in the camp That-will-never-happen-to-my-family. Life can be so fragile, here one minute gone the next.

Something else I already knew but was really reminded of, We have a grand Designer! So many systems in the human body! And yet they all work together, wonderfully made. I was always amazed at the never ending tubes and needles, the monitors, the ventilator. The technology and the information we have to heal a human body, and yet we know so little about the brain. It amazes me that with all of the experts at hand, God still had this in hand and was working for His glory. Nothing was left to chance.

Remember the time they told us that Abi would be in a coma and not wake up for at least 4 weeks. Well they were wrong and she was awake on day 6. She was all hopped up on morphine and amnesia drugs but she was awake. Then she got that horrible abdominal infection, she lost 30 lbs through out her hospital stay. But she is still here! She keeps on going. She is getting stronger too. Sure she might still run funny (don't tell her I said that) but she is running! She is motivated to eat, to get her butt back as well. Slowly she is gaining her weight back. It is amazing to me that she has not had any major setbacks or problems since she left the hospital. That is not Chance!

Before

(taken July 18th)

She has not caught a cold or the flu. And this is cold and flu season, and just try to keep Abi home! Not happening. It is true that she gets really cold and has a hard time getting warmed up, but once she gets that butt back she won't have that problem any more.

Did any one notice that Abi's volume was affected? I thought that after being quiet for so many days she would have learned something about volume control. But I was wrong. I think they bumped up the volume in one of her surgeries or something.

On a more serious note. It is super hard to let Abi go off and be "Abi Before the Accident". I get upset and want to make her stay home. I don't want to see her do things that are dangerous, like walking across an icy sidewalk. Staying out late hanging out with her friends. Working. All those things are scary. We have had to learn again to let go! I witnessed a very fragile Abi. I don't think sometimes that she comprehends where she was at, and what happened to her. And yet I know she was the one that went through it. I don't know if she comprehends the severity of those first 12 days. She doesn't remember them. She has seen the pictures so she must know something. But we clearly had a more real, frightening experience those first days. She was asleep for most of it, For that I am very thankful!

As with any tragic event there have been so many lessons to learn, I just hope they stick! I don't imagine they will fade anytime soon. We have all been changed through this event. We have all had our eyes opened. Opened to our God, our mortality, our blessings, our strengths, our weaknesses, our hope!