Sometimes it takes life slapping us in the face to remind us how truly grateful we should be for those we love.
Many of you have heard that there was a head-on collision last Thursday afternoon north of Collinsville.
A bad one.
There was a time early in my career that I believed every car accident was front page news.
I’ve backed off that in recent years and, in doing so, perhaps opened myself up for criticism among my peers.
I believe there are better stories to tell than harrowing pictures of highway carnage.
Maybe I’m completely out of touch with my industry.
The Grayson County Scanner Facebook page has more than 50,000 followers and carnage is most of what they do.
Nonetheless, I will not be rethinking my editorial choices anytime soon.
And my convictions were reaffirmed with the car accident last Thursday afternoon.
It hit home.
It involved my son and father-in-law.
Many of you have reached out with well-wishes and support.
We appreciate that more than you can know.
We appreciate your prayers most of all, because they work.
I was out of town when it happened.
I was in St. Louis on a university trip.
The crash detection app alerted my phone and Jennifer’s too.
She was at the office in Whitesboro, jumped in the car, called me along the way and beat the ambulance to the scene.
Within 10 minutes, my bags were packed, my return flight was changed and I was en route back to the airport.
Jennifer called and let me talk to Whitesboro Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Patterson.
My old childhood friend gave me an assessment of the scene and then set back to work.
Grandson and grandfather were both taken to TMC in Denison.
Later that night, they both ended up at the same hospital in Plano.
Thanks to Southwest Airlines’ accommodating ticket schedule— and some miraculous timing -- I made it to Plano in time to see my father-in-law off to surgery before meeting Jennifer and Jackson at the ambulance bay.
Both patients have endured multiple surgeries with multiple more in store.
They are still in the hospital at Plano.
The grandfather took the brunt of the impact and will have a longer recovery than the grandson, but both are still here and with us and able to recover.
We are grateful beyond measure to so many people we can’t begin to name them all here, for there are far too many.
We’re grateful it was not worse.
We’re grateful that the driver of the other vehicle was treated and went home that night. We’re grateful for the exceptional work of Whitesboro’s Chief Patterson, Collinsville Fire Chief Damon Stewart, Tioga Fire Chief Richard Hartman and all of their amazing crews. We are grateful to live in a county where mutual emergency response agreements are valued— they save lives.
We’re grateful for Dr. John Sissney who was coordinating specialists before they even got to the hospital.
We’re grateful for the nameless rental car clerk in St. Louis that waived my fuel refill fee, said he was praying for us and told me to get going to the airport.
We’re grateful for the many doctors and our countless friends.
We’re grateful for an amazing family who has stepped up and rallied around us and literally helped keep the home fires burning.
We’re grateful empathy is not dead.
There are philosophers and influencers who would argue the opposite.
There are those among us who have become so swallowed up in self-interest that they fail to value empathy as a human condition.
I’ve seen empathy firsthand over the past week. We have benefited from it and I know we will continue to see it in the days to come.
Our journey is not over.
We’re not out of the woods yet, but we are still in the woods and that is a victory. Sometimes it takes a life-or-death situation to ground you and lend perspective.
It’s a shame it takes such an experience to remind us of what’s important.
I’m grateful for our amazing team at the News-Record for keeping the presses running.
I’m grateful for my equally amazing team with my day job at the university.
I’m grateful for my students for the flexibility they’ve afforded me this week.
Most, more than anything (or anyone) else, I’m grateful for my amazing wife and daughters.
Jennifer is the most amazing mother, daughter and caretaker I’ve ever known.
Our daughters have inherited those qualities.
In the end— 44 hours without sleep, countless cups of coffee and primal fear of losing a loved one coupled with daily lessons of the human anatomy and its response to trauma are enough to open your eyes. They have opened mine anyway.
I hope it doesn’t take something like this happening to your family to open yours.
The best advice I can give you is to love one another and yourself; hug your kids; call your parents; turn off the news; turn on some Tom Petty; read a book; put down the phone; sit down to dinner together as a family; take a breath; say ‘thank you’ to your creator; love one another while you still can; and never lose sight of the empathy that makes us human.
