“I was the girl in the neck brace. ‘Just give it time,’ they repeated. My memory betrayed me, forgetting class times, notes, names. Every day, I woke up with a headache. Doctors warned me graduating was unlikely.”
‘As I was thinking about how wonderful life was, my head slammed into the steering wheel. My final summer was gone.’: Teen suffers brain injury, graduates college, ‘Always have hope’
‘We saw bubbles at the surface of the pool. ‘Someone needs to get him up now!’ He was limp and grey.’: Family share shallow water drowning PSA, ‘Please let your loved ones know’
“This was a pool game we played all the time. We knew many family and friends who did the same. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”
‘There was a shooting downtown.’ I fell to the floor. I just knew it was my husband.’: Widow loses husband to accidental shooting, ‘Life is meant to still be enjoyed’
“My husband gave me a quick peck and was out the door. Something was wrong, so terribly wrong. I saw the news pop up. ‘There’s been an accident.’”
‘Mommy, I had an accident. I couldn’t make it to the toilet. I did it on the kitchen floor.’ I peeked over, half-asleep.’: Mom urges ‘give the blessing of grace and unconditional love’
“I knew within that moment two things could happen. As I sat up from my spot on the couch, she immediately took my breath away. I wanted to remember it all.”
‘Someone put in an offer on our home in the middle of this pandemic. Our mortgage couldn’t be put on hold. We scrambled to live in a 6-feet wide trailer.’: Mom recounts 2020 regrets, ‘Everything happens for a reason’
“I had just been laid off. Maybe I should have put up with the terrible job that I felt might have killed me, to take a temporary one that ended New Year’s Eve. Amidst all this I get an awful and mean message from someone with whom I thought I got along, and no reason behind it.”
‘She called me in hysterics. ‘Mom, we have to do something. We can’t let it suffer.’: After witnessing wounded deer, mom and daughter realize ‘how truly fragile and beautiful life is’
“There we were, crumpled on the side of the highway, weeping over a dying deer. She wanted so desperately to help ease the animal’s suffering as it struggled to breathe. ‘Oh, Mom,’ my daughter whispered. We prayed her suffering would not linger for long.”
‘I hopped in the driver’s seat instead of letting him drive. I gently pressed the gas pedal, no one in sight. Then everything went…silent.’: After car accident with son, mom says ‘don’t let the ‘wrappers’ in life get in the way’
“We jumped in the car to run some evening errands. ‘Stay there. We are sending help,’ she said urgently. The thing that defined our relationship was snack wrappers. It’s embarrassing to admit how much of our daily interaction revolved around me telling him to, ‘pick them up!’ It is always the unimportant decisions that change lives.”
‘I watched Grace’s head hit the front of the truck. Our entire bodies went under. ‘These tires are going to run us over. I’m going to lose my child.’: Woman describes trauma of car accident ‘I continue to play the ‘what if’ game with myself’
“I remember thinking, ‘This guy better stop,’ but telling Grace in a quick tone, ‘Come on. We need to hurry.’ From the sidewalk, I reached out both of my hands and yelled ‘Stop!’ I watched my own self and 3-year-old daughter get struck by a moving vehicle.”
‘Do not tell him to Go Big or Go Home!’ I whisper and instantly regret. The EMT rushed out onto the course. Skier 107 is my son. My 6-year-old son.’: Parents teach son the importance of perseverance
“‘Go Big or Go Home!’ his dad told him. Honey, this is supposed to be a fun thing,’ I told him as I brushed back his golden hair. ‘But Mommy, what if I lose?’ he cried. When we arrive at the top of the mountain, he panics. ‘I don’t want to do it, Mommy. I am scared.’ I hear the cries of the crowd, the unmistakable climax of shock, and then silence.”
‘If you’re there, I need you to wake up. Your boys need you. Tell God you’re not ready.’ His eyelids fluttered. I blinked back tears.’: Woman says her husband is ‘truly is a walking miracle’ after motorcycle accident
“He had blood-soaked gauze around his head. ‘Is that a bone sticking out of his arm?’ Sean had been in a motorcycle accident. I sat beside his bed listening to the ventilator push air through his body. I need you. Your boys need you. I know you’re in there, but you have to show these doctors that. I’m going to go home. When I get back in the morning, you need to wake up.'”
