One Whole Month
November 29, 2006
Finding the time to enter journal entries seems very difficult lately. The time leading up to the adoption was so saturated with thoughts of our little Grace and the anticipation of traveling to get her that writing was was more frequent as it provided to be a great outlet during our wait. Now that we're home it seems as though the months are zipping by so quickly.
The past month has been chock full of events and adventures which means this post will probably be disjointed and incoherent.
At the end of October we had our second gathering of families with adopted children from China here in Rocky Mount (Carolina Kids). We met at Sonic and had a nice time of sharing stories with each other as well as pouring out our wealth of knowledge on those who were getting ready to travel;) It is always fun to relive our trip overseas and the day we got our precious daughter. While we talked, the kids climbed around on the playground equipment and had a great time with each other.
Tricia's dad and mom, sister, and niece made the trip down to Rocky Mount to watch the kids last soccer game of the year. Mom and Dad Davis stayed while Sherry and Megan drove back to New York. It was nice of them to stay as they helped Tricia clean closets and pack boxes. Of course, Grace enjoyed having them here and the extra attention she received.
While they were here we celebrated Evan's sixth birthday as well as halloween. The kids were able to carve pumpkins with grandpa while grandma helped Tricia sew costumes for the kids. I goofed and forgot the camera at the office and didn't realize it until the kids were dressed and ready. Fortunately, after a great deal of groveling, I was allowed to sleep in the house.
November came and we were invited to celebrate a Thanksgiving feast with some friends. The get together was on their property and while it was quite chilly we had a great time. Part of participating was that we were to dress up either as pilgrims or indians. All of us, except Evan, were pilgrims and I must say that it was funny to see a chinese pilgrim, although she had to be the cutest one ever.
Grace has become a first-class walker and when she's awake she is constantly on the move. She does her best to put herself in positions where she can get hurt—often climbing up on furniture.
Tricia commissioned me to take photos of the children out at Rose Hill. Rose HIll is a stunning southern retreat and conference center with a hundred different perfect spots for pictures. I wish that I had a better knowledge of taking pictures and lighting, but despite my hundreds of useless photos we did manage to get a couple that were useable. I am posting one with this journal entry, but you can see some more by going to the Photo Album and clicking on the "Rose Hill" album.
Two weeks ago today we packed the Suburban and drove through the night to New York. I had the pleasure of taking my wife on a convention with me to Los Angeles, so everything worked out for us to leave the kids with Tricia's family in New York while we enjoyed some time together in Southern California. We had a great trip together and while a good portion of the trip was spent at a convention center in Anaheim we had the evenings to go on dates. Of course the weather was perfect like it always is in that part of the country.
We flew back to Rochester, New York and spent the next few days with Tricia's family over Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving day 2006 will be remembered by us all as Tricia, her mom, and Lindsay were in a moderately serious car accident. About 10 a.m. I was sitting in the basement of Tricia's parents' house when she came to the top of the stairs and said she was heading over to her sister's house with the pies and to help set up for dinner. I did a double take and noticed that she was only wearing a white robe and had not done her hair or makeup. Of course, being the sensitive husband, I said, "are you wearing that?" My gracious wife replied that she was going to get ready over at Sherry's house to which I responded by saying, "what if you get in a car accident?" Little did I know twenty minutes later I would get a frantic phone call.
Dad Davis, Rod (Tricia's brother) and I were outside at Rod's house splitting and stacking wood when my cell phone rang. I answered and Tricia was quite shook up saying she had been in a serious accident with her mom. I asked her where, but could not hear her response because of the engine on the log splitter. I shouted for Dad to turn it off (later he said he thought I could have walked down the hill to take my call if I couldn't hear). After he turned it off, she gave me the location and we were in the Suburban and on the road within a minute.
The trip to the scene of the accident seemed to take forever even though I'm certain I did not once drive below the speed limit. Driving up on the accident was very frightening as there were several ambulances, a couple fire trucks and police cars. I drove my truck up on the grass to the side of this country road and jumped out. The first thing I saw was Mom having a neck brace put around her neck and being gently laid back on a stretcher. Her face and coat was covered with blood and seemed very distorted as it was swollen and out of place because of the brace. Dad stayed with her as I ran to the back of the ambulance.
Inside the ambulance were two paramedics checking Tricia and Lindsay. Both of them were shook up but appeared to be o.k. After talking to Tricia she let me know she was having shortness of breath and was very sore in her chest. Praise the Lord, she only suffered some bruising from the seat belt and is still tender in that area. Lindsay was fine, but I drove her to the hospital to be checked out just to be sure.
Tricia was shortly afterwards put in a neck brace and laid on a stretcher and taken to the hospital in an ambulance as a precautionary measure.
After a couple of hours in the hospital and the x-rays and CT scans everyone was released—including Tricia's mom! By God's grace she only suffered a broken nose, a split lip which required stitches, and a great deal of bruising. She was on some pretty heavy duty pain killers, but we were all able to enjoy everybody together for a late Thanksgiving dinner.
I can't begin to describe the thanks I had in my heart towards God for keeping my family safe. Throughout the day I was able to pray with my children, with grandma while she was still in bad shape in the hospital, and with Tricia. God, in His rich mercy, answered our prayers and those of the many people back in Rocky Mount who were praying.
Immediately following the accident Tricia saw her mom get out of the car, profusely bleeding, and Mom's first concern was for the beautiful pies she had worked so hard on. Let's just say that the pies didn't make it, and the pot of soup ended up on the back seat of the car. We had frozen pies that night, but pie never tasted so good.
When we returned back to Rocky Mount we had the great pleasure of seeing the Alexanders who had returned from China while we were away. Seeing Anna at home with her new family brought back a rush of emotions and renewed our gratefulness to God for richly blessing us with Grace. We praise the Lord for His faithfulness in the Alexander's lives.
