Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Mom's Near Brush with DEATH...Forever Thankful and Grateful!

     After a long day of writing, I was so excited to finally take a break and meet up with two of my favorite people, Diana and Pam! It had been a few weeks since our last hang out session and I was really looking forward to spending some time with my girls and just catching up on life. KIKU ( an asian habachi restaurant nearby) is our SPOT, and my mouth was watering from the second we decided that is where we would eat. I was about to jump in the shower when my mother randomly popped into my head.  I wanted to call her, but I quickly dismissed it knowing I had very little time to get ready. I can be such a "girl" and take forever, haha. Lately my intuition has been running at an ALL TIME HIGH. Over the years however, I've learned to follow my instincts and I have become much more aware of  the various "SIGNS" around me (finally catching up to my sister-law Tara and my Aunt Yanick in that regard, lol.) My thoughts were rather persistent and my mom was still on my mind even after getting out of the shower. So I decided to pause and check-in with her. As I reached for my phone on the charger, it started to ring and I could see mom's picture pop up on my screen. I smiled at the coincidence and answered, 
"Mom! That's SO funny I was just about to call you!!! I've been thinking about you for the last twenty minutes HAHA, what's up?"

"Chrisssssss...honey..." 
My heart immediately dropped to my feet as I could tell by the tone of her voice something was drastically wrong! 
"Chris, I'm ok but I just had a serious freak accident on the Cross Bronx Expressway (I95)......a tire just hit my car and shattered my entire windshield (sobs)..... I'm covered in glass...oh my God...my legs..."
I was now in a full fledge panic, but knew that I had to remain calm for her sake. 
"Wait...so you're ok?! Where are you now mom?"

 
     My mind was racing as I pulled on my jeans and raced to finish getting dressed. My body was on autopilot and looking back I cannot believe how quickly I was moving. 
"I don't know! (sobs) Chris, nothing like this has ever happened to me before...I'm just driving...I'm so scared!! I couldn't get a hold of your brother Charles...ohhhh CHRISSSSS, MY GOD!!!!!"
"Mom, please you need to do me a favor and just take control of yourself, calm down, and pull over! I know you are in shock but you NEED to stop driving and make sure you're ok. I'm gonna find Todd and try calling Charles again, OK?!" 
     All the adrenaline in my body must have gone straight to my legs because I had made it up two flights of stairs in under a minute desperately looking for my sister's boyfriend for help. I quickly realized I was home alone and without a car. My fingers trembled as I dialed my brother Charles. A sense of relief came over me when he finally answered. For some reason talking to Claude always makes me feel like things are gonna be ok! I calmly explained the situation to him, and he immediately jumped in his car to rush to the aid of our mom. I felt so helpless at this point but all i could do was wait. I made my way back to my bathroom to finish getting ready for dinner. I barely started brushing my teeth before finding myself sobbing on the floor. 

"Holy shit.....what just happened," I thought to myself?!?! 

     Most people in my position would brush something like this off once knowing the person they care about is ok, but I could not help but think of how badly this could have turned out. Somehow when a major accident is averted the only people that truly understand the impact are the ones involved.  For example telling a friend, "Omg I tripped just before and almost broke my neck down a flight of stairs." To which they usually reply "But your ok right?! So its all good :)," quickly dismissing the severity of how bad the situation could have been. I find this to be incredibly annoying. I quickly pulled myself together and was out the door for my dinner date. Seeing Diana and Pam in the driveway put a smile on my face right away and I immediately felt comfortable. Talk about two genuinely GREAT people in my life, my boobalas! I explained the crazy story to them as we drove to the restaurant and they were both in complete shock. All my friends know my mother VERY WELL and so news like this is felt on a personal level. Several calls were made back and forth between my siblings and I, as they made their way to the scene of the accident. Isabelle and Joe were not far from the area and therefore decided to head over as well in order to drive my mother home later. 

     It was still hard to concentrate as we sat down for dinner. Shortly after, I received a call with an update from Charles. Usually the one to be calm and collected in these situations, by the tone of his voice, I could tell right away that we had just avoided a major crisis, 
"Chris man, you have NO IDEA how lucky we are that mom is still alive! If that tire had hit just an inch higher, mom would have been killed in that accident. Im sitting in the car now, and there is glass everywhere, the windshield is literally seconds away from caving in!" 
     The impact of his words were just too much to handle. as the all too familiar feeling that God had ONCE AGAIN saved us hit me like a ton of bricks. I politely excused myself from the tables as the tears streamed down my face. Another confirmation that someone or something is protecting my family and I.
"I don't even know what to say...this is exactly what I try to tell people everyday! I am just so happy and grateful that she is OK! Claude...WOW..."
"Chris I know.......I know.....we really need to be thankful and say a prayer tonight because mom was almost taken from us. This is crazy man! I love you so much and I want to see you soon ok?! The last few days I've been sick so I know we haven't gotten together but trust me we'll make up for the time. Now I really realize that life CANNOT be taken for granted! I'm still with mom now so I'll be in touch...."

     
     As I came in from dinner I rushed to find my mom in the house. I was instantly overcome with tears of joy as I saw her coming down the stairs from her bedroom. The slight possibility that I could have been visiting her in a hospital or worse, was enough to make me extremely happy and thankful. I gave her a huge hug and didn't let go! I've heard too many unfortunate stories in the last few months about accidents where other families weren't so lucky. I made sure to take a moment to APPRECIATE and CHERISH the fact that we WERE! There is something so incredible about the bond that we share as a family. With my parents recent divorce however, sometimes things seem so dysfunctional. BUT at the end of the day we are STILL A FAMILY! When the shit hits the fan we come together and we are there for each other! Nothing else matters! If something were to happen to ANY ONE of  us, we would all be devastated. Last night my mother's life was almost taken in a freak accident!  A random tire flew off a TRUCK and shattered her windshield in high speed traffic. Had the tire NOT hit the car bumper first before slamming into the glass, my mother would have been dead INSTANTLY! Take a moment to fully embrace what that means. Doing so is the only way you will understand the gravity of my message today! My mother was saved by a miracle tonight and there is NO DOUBT in my mind that she has a guardian angel watching over her! No amount of words could possibly express how utterly grateful I am that she is still with us today.  However, because of the way I choose to live MY LIFE, should God have decided it was her time, I know FULL well that my mother would have gone into heaven knowing EXACTLY how much I love her and just how much she means to me because I tell her ALL THE TIME! I don't sit and wait for crazy stuff like this to happen. Life is too precious to be taken for granted. Call me dramatic, call me sensitive.... but I prefer the term REALISTIC! Too many people live life as if they are invincible. They complain about all the stupid crap they've got going on and constantly fail to appreciate their blessings in life. Trust me, IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE (right Brandon?) Your ENTIRE LIFE CAN CHANGE at any minute of any day!  My mother was just casually driving home from work, minding her own business...believe me, I've seen it one too many times. So do yourself a favor, and express your feelings to the people you care about. Don't wait for something terrible to happen to be kind and loving. Mend and heal the broken relationships that are still worth saving because sometimes it's JUST NOT WORTH IT. Forget the petty garbage, move forward, and don't live your life with hate in your heart! They say, "you don't realize what you've got, till its GONE"......well I certainly DO....and so should YOU!

-Mr. Recovery







*JLA is OK everybody!!! Thank you so much for all your messages of concern! WE LOVE YOU MOM!!!


3 comments:

  1. Thank god....my jla....that story gave me the chills...i love you and im happy moms ok give her my love. Great blog yet again

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  2. Man, that is wild smh. Thanks for sharing this story with us again. The pictures really put it into perspective. Thank God that He took care of your mother that evening. Stay blessed bro

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  3. Thank God Jenny is Ok!
    Love u guys cuz!

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