A New Perspective

Well, I (Kassie) got into a car accident last week. Luckily, no people were hurt, but our car sure was. The front passenger's side of the car banged up and the front wheel was ripped of the axle. So I won't have a car for a few weeks until it is fixed. We have been functioning with just Greg's car since the accident, which is a whole adventure in and of itself (It likes to play this unpredictable game of quitting when it stopped too long.). How do I feel about all of this? Not too happy at all. Even so, it certainly puts things into perspective.

When the crash happened, I just remember feeling and hearing the crunch. Then I heard Hinckley screaming. The first thing I could think to do was make sure he was okay. His car seat was twisted and he was crying louder than I have ever heard. I undid his belts and pulled him out of the seat and just held him. As soon as I did that, he calmed down and seemed fine. I was so SO grateful that it didn't seem like there was any harm to him. In fact, I think he forgot about the incident rather quickly because the rest of the day seemed to go pretty normally for him. He cooed and smiled and cried and avoided sleep, just like he always does.

Just Living the Life

It wasn't until after I had calmed Hinckley down that I remembered I had just gotten into a wreck. As I held him, I surveyed the car. It didn't look good. And it had to be towed away because I obviously couldn't drive it, seeing as it was now a three-wheeled car. None of this really mattered to me at the time, though. I must have been too shocked by the situation to get mad about it because I really was not that upset. All I could think is that it really could have been so much worse.

Our car, being towed away

It shouldn't take an event like this to put things into perspective, but that is what it did for me. It helped me remember that there are more important things in life than things. Yes, my car was ruined, but it is just a car. It is just a bunch of metal and plastic pieces put together. If you think about it, it is really weird that we car so much for these things sometimes. No man-made thing really matters at all. Greg and I don't have many nice things and there have been many times that I wished we did. When all is said and done, though, these objects don't mean a thing. Worldly goods never last--they break, get out-dated, and go out-of-style. An object cannot last forever. However, people and relationships do last forever. This incident reminded me that I should care more for the people around me and less for the things around me. I should ask, "Who can I help?" rather than "What can I buy?" The happiest people are those who have good relationships--family and friends.

We have had A LOT of things happen this year. Greg graduated, we were separated through the summer and the last of my pregnancy, a new baby, moving halfway across the country, a difficult job, a frustrating apartment, and so much more. It seems like every time we think we have reached the top of our challenges, there are more in store for us. With that in mind, it is easy to look at everything cynically and get overwhelmed. However, we have had many wonderful, great things happen as well. For FHE, Greg and I wrote a list of all the things that we have been complaining about since the summer started and then we wrote a list of all the things that happened during this time that we should be grateful for. Sure enough, our list of good things was longer than our list of bad things. The good list has a lot of little things on it, but I just want to mention two huge blessings that trump everything else of this time. First, we have felt the support and love of family and friends greater than any other time in our lives. Second, Hinckley is healthy and his delivery was free from complications. Because of these two simple facts, we really don't have any reason to complain about anything else.

Anyway, I will end this post with some pics of H because he exudes the joy of life.

The Pied Piper?

True Joy