Six Years Later (Part II)

A month ago, I posted about what happened to us in 2001. The story of that year didn’t end when we arrived back home February 3, though.

On the one-month anniversary of the plane crash (February 27 – six years ago tonight), John was in a wreck on his way home from work that totaled our Corsica and had us spending several hours in a hospital because we were afraid John might have broken his thumb. Luckily, everything was fine and he just had to wear a castlike splint for a week or so. By this time, though, even my manager was afraid to hear from me because each time I called, it was never good news.

A couple of months later we received more bad news. We ate out with my family to celebrate Mother’s Day (May 13). That evening as John and I were getting ready for bed, we received a call stating that my dad had been hit by a car while crossing the street and was being taken to the hospital. Again, God was watching over us and our families as he only sustained a broken leg and tailbone.

My dad was back in the hospital in June with what they thought was a "mini stroke." Then, in early August, my mom had to be taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration. In fact, everyone in my family got sick that week from either a stomach bug or food poisoning (we never figured out which it was since we had dinner together the previous weekend and then all got sick).

Our year finally started to look up when we were set to close on our first house September 10. September 10, 2001, as in the day before “September 11.” After everything we had been through that year, it was just something else to add to the list for that year. Thankfully we didn’t know anyone involved with that, but it changed our lives again – especially with John traveling all the time for his job.

I hope to never have to live through a period of time like that one year again, but I am thankful that God helped us get through it, and I know that we are stronger because of it.