Time on my hands

On the evening of 31st of January, around 6:30, my wife, children and I were on our way to a birthday dinner for a brother-in-law.  We had travelled about a mile south from home, when, a car pulled out in front of us at a high rate of speed.  

I have a habit of using the cruise control feature, which I typically set at 56-58 MPH.  That night was no different. 

We hit a little Ford Contour with such force that it was knocked about 400+ feet south as we were sent east about the same distance.  Our Chevy Tahoe was totalled.  The other car was shaped like a boomerang afterwards.

  The impact was so great that my right leg was broken, along with a sprained ankle and knee.  I also had a few bumps, scrapes and bruises that were minor.  The Mrs. had banged both knees into the dash as she 'submarined'.  Both of us began having neck an shoulder pain about a week later (muscle strain and dislocated cervical vertebrae).

The kids were both in the 3rd row seats and were unharmed...Thank God!  

Just imagine had we not been wearing our seat belts!

The other driver had merely sprained his shoulder...AMAZING!  Considering his driver door was two feet inside the car!

We later found out that the driver had been smoking marijuana and crushing and snorting Lortabs (a prescription pain killer).  Needless to say, he is in jail waiting for the Grand Jury to hear his case.

I am off work for 8 weeks minimum.  I have started physical therapy to address the neck pain, dizziness, headaches and muscle strain.  My wife has just ended her therapy.  She was told there is nothing more they can do, it will just take time to heal.  The pain she still has in her neck is from soft tissue damage, I hope.  And her knees are still sore to the touch.  One is even numb.  An MRI has revealed nothing obvious as to the cause of the numbness.  Worst yet, our family physician has now found a previously unheard heart murmur.  She said it could be a contusion caused by the wreck.  A battery of tests and the opinion of a cardiologist is that is probably the case.

I do have a cold place in my heart for the guy that caused the wreck and all of the pain that followed.  However, the Christian side of me hopes he finds spirituality while confined.  God has given him yet another chance at life, see, this is his second offense in the last year.  He had just gotten his license back shortly before this accident.  I hope he never puts another family in harms way the way he did us.