My mom’s side of the family is very close. We gather together (close to thirty of us) as many times as possible over the course of a year and these events are much-anticipated times to catch up, reminisce and laugh. In fact, we have reduced our meals per day to two instead of three because of the amount of time spent lingering around the table.
Every Thanksgiving we say what we are most thankful for, tour the lights in downtown Battle Creek complete with a singalong and spend Friday shopping until we drop. Over Christmas we have a $5 grab bag that gets so competitive my aunt still protests my brother’s win of the malachite earrings nearly 15 years ago. At any gathering you can expect a singalong and or to see multiple generations putting together at jigsaw puzzle in the corner.
The Tuesday before Christmas I had dinner with three of my cousins and we parted excited about the upcoming family gathering. Unfortunately, that gathering never came. My mother received a call from a paramedic who relayed that my aunt, uncle and cousins were in a near-fatal accident. A woman who was having a diabetic seizure came across the median and hit their car, pushing them into a semi. Their car rolled multiple times and the initial reports didn’t hold much hope that my uncle would make it through. The women were taken to one hospital; the men to another and eventually everyone was released. There will be multiple follow-up visits to doctors and specialists, whether my aunt will be able to keep her whole thumb remains to be seen, my cousin’s stitches are infected and she will need a skin graft and my uncle will not go back to work for at least two weeks. The full details of the event had the effect of a roller coaster.
One phone call changed everything. Half the family went to help, the other half stayed behind to maintain a sense of normalcy for the sake of my nieces and nephews. We laughed together, cried together and hugged each other just a little longer.
We truly experienced a miracle this Christmas.