the tempest is raging

Jan 16, 2013

 

Calm seas do not make good sailors.

 

I need to emblazon this on my heart because I am in anything but a calm sea. Um, more like a tempest at the moment.

Richard was in a car accident tonight. Again. Remember 2010 when he was hit three times? February, December, and December? Tonight he was hit in our brand-new-to-us-Subara-dream-car-that-is-fourteen-years-old. We just titled it yesterday. I rode in it for the first time this morning on my way to get my blood drawn for a whole gob of tests to be run. The car that I have researched to death and price compared for the past five months on Craigslist and ksl.com. The car that has a brand new engine, brand new transmission, brand new gazillion other things and will go another 300K miles. The car that doesn’t slide an inch on these icy roads. The car that would be super safe for Blythe to drive. The car that was going to save me a gazillion dollars in gas when I drive my children to iFamily, ballet, seminary and Scouts. The small car that my hip was actually okay in. The car I have been over-the-moon about.

Oh, the frustration over the whole thing. Thank goodness it is being tempered by gratitude. Richard is safe. He is alive and he is well. He is sore and his belly and chest are beat up from the airbag, but he is doing fabulously well tonight. He was given a beautiful Priesthood blessing that told him his Father in Heaven is grateful for the work he is doing with his family and his clients and it was just what he needed to hear. He was blessed with an extra measure of patience and an ability to get done all that is demanded of him. Trust me, he needs all those things right now. So, so much.

While all of this was going on, Fisher was in the bathroom puking his guts out. I was in bed unable to help him and Annesley was being Annesley…dancing around the house in a ball-gown full of her usual silliness.

I had a blood draw this morning and have been pretty weak all day. Then I had an IV this afternoon and while my brain feels clearer, my body is exhausted by the two trips into town. Thank goodness for Jen and Jessica entertaining me while the precious vitamins and minerals dripped into my vein. I think I would go nutso there all by myself!

When Richard called, a million tender mercies fell into place. I called Kat and told her what street Richard was on and to please quickly go find him, meanwhile Fisher was throwing up and my big girls were rushing out the door to ballet. I was trying to eat the delicious Asian Stir-Fry dish my friend Vanessa brought over, call the insurance company, cancel colloquia, holler to Annesley to help Fisher with his puking, and trying to stop my own crying, none of which I was succeeding at, when two of the ladies showed up for our book discussion having no idea I had just cancelled it thirty minutes prior. Two of the ladies my children love the most. Amy and Sheri took right over with Fisher and let me cry my little eyes out. Sheri is one of the few people in the world that Fisher would have let help him because he loves her and trusts her. She has never come to colloquia, but tonight she did and instead of discussing a book was able to help my suddenly-very-sick little boy. They quickly made phone calls to Amy’s husband to come over and give Richard a blessing. Kat showed up with my sweetie safe and sound and I thought my heart would burst at seeing him walk into our bedroom. I love this man so deeply. I love him and am overwhelmed by how many times he has been hit by other drivers running red lights. I am so, so grateful for the protecting angels that surround him. When I saw him, I wanted to jump into his arms, but instead I reached out to him with my fingers and handed him my amazing Asian Stir-Fry. That is true love, my friends, true love.

Earlier today, my friends, Tamia and Paula, came and cleaned my house from top to bottom AND took my piles of laundry home with them. When I got home from the IV and saw what they had done I was mortified, but now I am just filled with gratitude at their kindness. Filled to the brim that they would march right into my home and see what needed done and then do it. I want to be that kind of woman. My mirrors have never sparkled so much. Those two are so full of awesome I can’t even begin to describe it.

Annesley has been throwing up for days, then tonight Fisher started. Then at 9:30, Keziah walked in from ballet and threw up as well. Oh, my goodness! Can all this throwing up stop! Or at least not make it to me? So house cleaning and laundry is a huge gift because I don’t think Keziah is going to be up to it tomorrow and while I am getting stronger after the craziness of last week, I am certainly not up to snuff yet.

I don’t know how or why so many things keep going so abysmally wrong, but I am grateful for all the miracles of my life. All the tender mercies. All the protecting angels. All the cleaning, cooking, and catching hands that continue to bless me.

Thank you God, thank you angels – both in heaven and on earth. You are amazing.

Going to go and try to massage my husband’s back. He is getting a bit sore now and his back has a big, red, angry area above his left hip. Giving him a massage is the least I can do…and thanks to today’s IV I think I can.

p.s. Thanks Jen for the quote at the top. I needed to hear it tonight and after you shared it with me I decided I needed to write about the events of this day. My brain processes things best as I write about them…and I needed the therapy pretty badly tonight.