Celebrate Life

Today my family celebrates my Dad's life. It has been 16 years since we almost lost him. He was driving to Park City and was hit head on by a drunk driver. My Dad was driving a little red truck and the drunk driver was driving a Suburban. My Dad is very lucky to be alive and I'm grateful I wasn't with him. I should have been. He was in Park City heading to the pool to swim laps. I usually went with him but I had a friend over when he was leaving so I stayed home. My Dad had so many injuries and they had to resuscitate him a few times while he was on Life Flight headed of the University of Utah. It is truly a miracle he survived. I can still remember when my Mom got the phone call. You could tell by the tone of her voice that she had received bad news. A member of the bishopric drove my Mom to Salt Lake and some other members of the ward stayed at my house with my siblings and me. We said lots of prayers. I was so scared. My siblings and I slept in our family room that night. I was 12 and had no idea how we were going to get through this. We spent the next few days in Salt Lake. Luckily my Grandparents lived close to the hospital so we stayed with them. I just wanted things to go back to normal. Luckily my Dad was able to come home thanks to home health. We set up a hospital bed on the main floor. Life felt a little more normal being able to have him home. There were lots of other changes and I learned a lot through the whole experience. I remember taking care of my Dad; emptying his urinal (sorry if TMI), rubbing his dry and cracked feet. It taught me that I wanted a career in health care. I am the youngest in my family so before the accident I was a brat and very spoiled. I had to change that and pull more weight and take on more responsibilities. I'm so grateful for that because it helped changed me from being selfish and spoiled to a harder worker and more level headed. (Some of you may disagree) My Mom was amazing through it all. Going through that with 6 kids isn't easy. She helped my Dad recover and it was a long road. He was in a wheel chair for quite awhile. She kept the household running through it all. I'm so glad I didn't loose my Dad 16 years ago. He may not be able to do everything he did before his accident but he is still a wonderful Dad and Grandpa to my kids. I am grateful to celebrate his life today! Here's to many more great years!