July 22, 2017
We had to drive by the crash site for the first time yesterday on our way to Alabama. As we pulled onto the parkway my heart began to race and my tears began to fall as I thought about how this is what they saw in their last moments. The accident didn’t happen until about 30 miles down the road so the whole time I was in anguish. Would there still be marks on the road or in the grass? Would I see the damaged trees? Would there be some sort of marker put there by someone to remember them? We didn’t know exactly where it happened, another one of those things in the police report that we forgot on purpose. But we knew about where it happened. So as we got closer my stomach started to turn, my heart beat faster, and I couldn’t sit still. When we got to the point where we started looking for evidence we noticed something. All along that side of the road were guardrails, rock walls, and even a 20 foot drop into a river. But they were hit in an area where there was a large patch of flat grass and a line of trees further out. If they had been hit anywhere else, there would have been no survivors.
Once we got past the town our hearts settled down and we could relax a little but it really didn’t ease up completely until we got off the parkway.
This is a road we will have to travel many times to leave town. We contemplated trying some other route but we knew we needed to go ahead and go that way. We were both very nervous about seeing the site but also the trip in general. But we knew we couldn’t stay in our little town and live in fear forever. We knew all we could do was pray. And, boy, did I. The entire way. And, yet again, God delivered. I prayed for peace and comfort and He showed me how much worse it could’ve been. So when we got back to the hotel last night I let our little miracle get in the pool, brace and all. I tried to keep her as dry as I could but she’s too spunky and energetic for that. It took a long time, and the use of a hairdryer, to get her dried out but it was worth it to see her smiling, splashing, and enjoying life. Thank you, God, for letting me keep her!
Fighting Fire with Light 