The one with the Certainties

10 Things I Know for Certain as of 11.30.11

1. I have makeshift walls around my bed.

2. I am re-watching The Wonder Years.

3. I have choices. "The world was ours. We could do everything, or nothing. All it had to be was anything..."

4. I enjoy a healthy dose of tradition.

5. I am proud to have the family and friends that I do, and am scared for the day when I am without a certain few of them.

6. I value my pets as normal people value their kiddos.

7. I will be crossing something off my Bucket List on New Year's Eve.

8. I am stronger than I like to admit, although not physically.

9. I am certain that I have more uncertainties than certainties.

10. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven.

Ps.
11. I like to make lists.

The One With the Thanksgiving Thankfuls

Seeing as today is Thanksgiving, it seems fitting to list what I am thankful for today- and always.

Mom and pop

Guinea babies

Dharma Bear

Family, especially the near-by members

Neighbors and family friends

Traditions- Plaza Lighting Ceremony and Christmas Vacation

Sleep

The one with 7 years ago today...

Oh la vache! Je te tacquine! On y va! C'est la vie! 





The French were in town on a mini-exchange trip. The big city of Independence was theirs for the adventuring. One host sister was dating this boy in the town next door. On Election Day 2004 while the American girls and French girls alike were sporting their "Keep American Clean, Flush Both Johns" shirts, they decided to make a surprise visit to the boy in the town next door. 





After poking around Wal-Mart for quite some time- one of the stores that the French came to love and frequent during their short stay- and purchasing some trinkets (for the French and for the boy since it was his anniversary with the host sister) they made their way toward the boy's house. 

There were two carloads of girls making the visit before the Election party. The host sister and her car were second in the running. As the two cars approached the intersection, close to the boy's house, the light turned green. The first car turned left at the green light and made it through. The second car yielded and when nothing appeared to be approaching, proceed through the intersection. 



Unlike the first car, the second car did not make it through. The first car later exclaimed that after they turned they heard loud screeching and other horrifying noises, so they turned back. When they turned back they saw the second car spinning in the intersection and a large truck smashed and stopped nearby. As the car stopped spinning and halted, the host sister looked up at her cracked windshield and thought, "Well, shit, I'm going to have to buy a new windshield." 



As she came to her senses and realized what had just happened, she frantically looked in the seat next to her to find the passenger leaning her head against the window and unconscious. Afraid of the passenger's condition, the host sister began to yell... no words, just sounds. In her head she was thinking, " I can't think of how to ask her in French if she's ok, but I at least have to ask, so I'll just ask in English if she's ok, even though she won't be able to understand me, I should tell her I'm sorry, I can't think of how to say that in French either, I'll just say that in English too, maybe she'll hear me and somehow know or assume what I'm saying..." She next looked in the backseat- so much blood. She thought she had killed them both.

The girl opened her door to find that the passengers of car one were there, at the scene of the accident. The host sister leaned toward the driver of car one and ashamedly proclaimed that she knew Madame was going kill her when she got the news of what had happened. The host sister was reassured and emergency calls were made. The host sister dug out her cell phone and placed a call to her dad- the phone call that all parents prays to never receive. "Dad, I had an accident. 7 highway and 39th. I'm so sorry. Please come quick." Other calls were made: moms, dads, teachers, and unbeknownst to the host sister, the boy was called. 



In what seemed like only two seconds later, the host sister saw her dad running up the road and upon approaching he embraced her in his arms. The driver of car one had taken on the role as protector and provided the dad and emergency teams with information and made more calls as the host sister sat in a ditch on the side of the road shacking violently and unable to speak. Shock had set in. Helicopters were flying overhead, sirens were blaring. All the while the host sister wondered what was going on that would require such emergency response, not realizing it was all because of her. 



As the feeling of years passing set in, the host sister noticed that she was being held. She recognized the smell and the feel of the grey sweatshirt; it was the boy. The host sister looked up and saw his face, her mom's face, and many other familiar faces. A man was also sitting with her, reading, from the bloody Bible found in her backseat. She was unaware of what he was reading and unable to listen. Next thing she knew, the host sister was being helped up and guided to a car. She got into the backseat with the boy, as her parents rode in the front. She realized they were on their way to the hospital. Upon this realization she started screaming and crying, " I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T DO IT! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW. THIS IS IT. I CAN'T DO THIS!" 


After the car ride from Hell, they got out and walked through the Emergency Room doors. There in the waiting room sat the host sister's: best friend, Uncle, Pastor, and an encouraging amount of others. Her mother next escorted the host sister to the bathroom. As the girl undressed, glass fell from her shirt, her pants, and her hair, from what seemed like every cell of her body. The floor was covered in the tiny crystals of evidence of what had happened moments, minutes, hours ago. 



Once the host sister was examined and checked out with no injuries, she was allowed to visit the passengers of her car. Knowing that everyone involved was eventually going to be back to normal, the host sister paused at the door, took a deep breath and slowly opened it. Louise was propped up in a bed, pale as a ghost with other French girls- friends- surrounding her. Due to the language barriers between the girls and the trauma of a helicopter ride and an injury to the jaw, they simply joined hands and sobbed. The host sister was finally able to vocalize an, "I'm sorry," and it was accepted in earnest with a nod. A sign that life would slowly creep back into normalcy, accompanied by a bond so severe and so special that it would prove true love for a lifetime. 



Je t'aime et a bientot!