For what am I thankful?
I am thankful to have my wife by my side, today.
We left town by car early Tuesday afternoon (I was driving) to travel about 8 hours to see our son and his fiancé. About 1 1/2 away from home, while cruising at 75 mph, our car was struck from behind by another vehicle, causing us to careen off the highway, bounce through the drainage ditch, and roll over at least twice - probably 3 times - into a cotton field (the cotton had been stripped). When the car stopped rolling, we were upright, miraculously. My wife and I were both alert, and I was fully mobile (thanks to seat belts and side air bags). My wife was bleeding from a laceration on her head, but was mobile. The car was severely damaged, i.e., extensive body damage, one wheel literally snapped off, most glass shattered, and rear hatch glass completely missing. I was able to open my door, and get around to the passenger side. A samaritan opened my wife’s door, but (as we found out later) she had severely bruised ribs (thankfully, nothing broken), and not able to walk away from the car. First responders arrived quickly, and, due to her head injury, determined they needed to airlift my wife back to a trauma center in our home town. After the helicopter departed, I was able to retrieve our belongings from our car and was taken to the sheriff’s office in the nearest town, where I contacted my Umpire, who was able to come and take me back home.
Thankfully, my wife’s injuries were not life threatening or severe, and she was released mid-evening. Since then, she has been able to rest comfortably, but experiences great pain when transitioning from sitting to standing, etc. Walking is not a problem.
Thanks to wonderful friends, the two of us will be enjoying a Thanksgiving meal here at our home. We’ll FaceTime with our son, and his fiancé and her family (whom we were to meet, today).
But, I am thankful to have my best friend and soul mate sitting beside me, right now. She will fully recover, in time, and we will get back to normal. I have a playoff game Saturday, and will be ready to go.
Happy Thanksgiving to ALL of you. Be safe and healthy.
Robert Cameron
Lubbock, Texas
