Recovering Daddy and Clete
Thanksgiving was just last Thursday, I posted about how very thankful I am for my family. On Sunday I was reminded exactly how thankful I really am. Sunday morning Dale, Britt, Jackson, our friend Matthew and his son Doss went hunting. The 2 younger boys had gotten kind of "ancy" about leaving, so Dale decided to take them to see a really old granite wall that was built as a dam on the creek. Matthew was still pretty far out in the woods hunting. As they were walking across the top of the wall to get to the other side of the creek, Dale stepped in a hole and fell about 8 feet to the rocks below landing on his head. The boys(Britt, Jackson and Doss) rushed to his side to see if he was ok, he was not. Dale knew however, that the boys could not carry him from the woods, so he somehow got to his feet and walked until he was close enough to an area that Britt could get the truck into. The boys then got Matthew on the radio and told him to hurry!
After Matthew got them on the road he called me. Trying not to freak me out to bad, Matthew said that Dale had hurt himself and that he was taking him to EAMC. I immediately thought that maybe Dale had twisted an ankle or something, but I wasn't quite prepared for what I was told when I asked what happened. My 1st response was "Is he conscious?" When I found that he was that made me feel alot better. I then began preparing to race to EAMC! I called my big brother Jeff, he immediately without a thought rushed over to get Clete. He and his family love all my boys, although I am sure they were all pooped by the time Clete left! Melanie, Matthews wife immediately jumped into action taking care of the older boys. We are so blessed to have friends like them. I knew that all my children were taken care of so that I could focus on Dale.
When I got to the hospital Dale was still in excruciating pain. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to watch. As the doctors came for him to run the many, many x-rays and CTs, I prayed that he would be okay. Thankfully all the tests were negative for any fractures! Dale left the hospital with staples in the front of his scalp and a pretty bad cervical sprain! We are so thankful for this.
That night after all the kids were down for the count and Dale was passed out in the recliner from all the meds, it finally hit me. I had come dangerously close to losing my best friend and the kids their father! The outcome of all this could have been very different! How would I have explained all this to a 3 year old and what could I have said to comfort the 2 that witnessed it? I am so very, very thankful that I don't have to. The Lord has once again blessed us with the best gift, the gift of life. All I can say to any of you out there is this: There are no guarantees in this life, please whatever you do, don't take any person in your life for granted, not even for an instant! Love hard and faithfully and don't worry about what others are thinking or doing! I am just HAPPY for those that I have and am going to take care of them no matter what the cost!
Dale, I love you more than life itself and am so proud that I have you in my life and our kids lives!
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