Heavy Heart, Busy Mind

Yesterday Vanessa called me to tell me that her sister-in-law (17), Doug's sister, had been in a car accident.  When I was talking to her it didn't seem like that big of a deal.  Nothing ever really does at first I suppose.  Then the facts started coming in.

She was in her car, in the back seat, with a blood alcohol level double the legal limit.  She had gone to a party at a friend's house where the parents were home and allowing the drinking to happen.  These "parents" allowed an 18 year old boy and his girlfriend to drive Doug's sister's car to take her where they needed to be.  He was going 120 mph and was being followed by a police officer.  When the police lights went on, the car hit a median and although the facts about what happened to the car are fuzzy to me, they ended up flipping the vehicle. 

Doug's sister was not in a seat belt.  She was thrown 50 feet from where the car landed.  Normally when you hear these things, the ending isn't a good one.  I still can't figure out how, but the only thing that happened to her was that her orbital bone was broken, the tip of her nose needed to be attached and she has some very severe road rash.  She was taken on the StarFlight helicopter to the hospital.  The believers would say there was an angel or something protecting her.  I'm still not sure how she survived, but i'm so relieved that she did. 

Christian has known this family for almost 20 years.  She was there when Shelby (the sister) was born.  She has watched her grow up and more recently we have become incredibly close to Doug and Vanessa.  They are all great people and I am fortunate to have met them and have them in my life. 

I was up the majority of the night last night thinking about the what ifs.  What if she hadn't been bought a BMW.  What if it had been a little car.  Would all three of the kids still be alive?  What if they had hit the tree that they missed by a narrow margin.  What if the "parents" that were allowing all of this to happen had taken all the car keys to protect these kids.

The 18 year old that was driving is in jail.  The other girl that was in the front seat is also in the ICU.  She was in a seat belt, but needed stitches on her face and has sporadic bruising I think from the seat belt. 

Walking into the ICU room took my breath away.  I had to hold back the tears as I looked at this little girl that has her whole life ahead of her but how it could've been taken away in an instant.  

I can't imagine what it would be like to get that call.  The middle of the night call that changes your life. 

How do we get these kids to listen to what is right?  How do we get them to realize that the people you hang around do have an influence on you and could change your life forever?  How do we keep them safe?

Galveston

I have slacked, yet again, on this blog.  I don't think there is any catching up, so we'll start anew.

This last weekend we packed up, what seemed to be, the entire house into the Denali and trucked it on down to Galveston.  We went with Doug and Vanessa.  Christian calls us her entourage.

Christian's Entourage

Doug wasn't feeling too well (ie he was hungover) and Jake and Vanessa just chatted away in the back of the car.  Parker did really well too.  She talked, slept and talked some more.  Vanessa kept her entertained when needed.

We arrived around 1, knew our room wasn't supposed to be ready until 3 so we went to grab some lunch.  After lunch, we headed to Wal-Mart.  I hate Wal-Mart and this trip was not the exception.  It was testing my patience.  But, we had time to kill.  We ended up with a boogie board for Jake and the rest were necessities.

We finally made it to our overpriced and now, overly gross condo.  Did NOT look like the pictures they posted online.  And "newly renovated" had a half inch of mold in our shower and the crappiest of crappy sheets and towels.  Our sheets didn't even fit the bed and the first night Christian got up to go to the bathroom and when she got back in bed, she slept under the fitted sheet.  She was only a little grossed out.  

The first day at the beach was great! Parker loved it, tried to eat sand and seaweed and was entertained for a good 20 minutes, maybe more.  She didn't like the sand in her diaper or the rinsing off in the shower.

After the 1st Day

Jake and Doug spent a lot of time together.  They threw sand at each other, chased each other and body surfed.  They also explored and pulled little creatures out of the ocean.  They found a stringy looking starfish, snails and other mollusks.

Playful Boys

 Vanessa had a pinterest idea.  We attempted it, but looking at it, i'm realizing they were too far away from the camera.  Oh well, it was fun.

Pinterest Photo

Parker really enjoyed the water.  We all took turns making sure she didn't drown.  Vanessa and Doug sure do love our little Parker. Parker wouldn't admit it, but she loves them too.

Parker and her Ti Tia (pronounced Cha-Chia)

Parker and Uncle Doug

The goal of Doug's for the trip was to build a ginormous sand castle.  Turns out, it was the hit of the beach.  Everyone stopped and looked at it.  They spent almost the entire day on it.  Building moats, lakes/ponds, and fixing turrets that collapsed.  Jake liked the "rustic" look of them, but Doug wanted perfection!

The Sand Masters

 Fortunately, Saturday was our first/last long day at the beach.  Sunday came and so did thousands of dead fish.  Turns out, there was some red tide, i'm assuming further out in the ocean.  It stank and we were all glad it was time to go home.  Mostly because we needed to shower to get the funk off of us.  You just can't get clean at the beach. 

One of the main reasons we went was for our boy.  He loves the beach.  Although he said he didn't have enough time, I think he had fun.  He was definitely fun to be around.