Roller Coaster Ride

This past week has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. Sunday night I received a frantic telephone call from my neice informing me my father had been caught by his own truck rolling backwards in a parking lot. He was trying to stop it when the door caught him in the face and knocked him backwards. His head hit the pavement and knocked him unconscious while the truck ran over his ankle, breaking it.

My neice and her husband called 9-1-1 and my 87-year-old father was taken to the hospital. For most of this week our lives have revolved around 5:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. Those are the times we are allowed to visit the ICU. Dad was semi-comatose for the entire week.

It was difficult seeing him with a breathing tube down his throat, or waiting news from the two surgeries (one draining the subdural hematoma from his head, the other repairing his ankle). But yesterday, God demonstrated his mercy toward us. My wife, Terri walked into the ICU and said, "Hey dad" and he turned his head toward her and smiled! Since then, he has been communicating (with great difficulty) and responding to everyone. I discovered just how cleansing tears of relief can be.

There is no way to explain how powerfully the prayers and thoughts of so many friends, acquaintences, and even strangers literally kept us going through this entire time! The emails, phone calls--and the surprise visit from my "best man", Jim Hastings, enabled us to survive. I believe those prayers not only sustained us, but they brought healing and hope to my father.

To all of you from Arizona to Texas, Tennessee to Delaware, American Somoa to India: Thank you. With all of my heart and soul: thank you for demonstrating God's love to me and my family. If my Father could articulate clearly at this moment I know he would say the same!

God's blessings on you.

-Darryl

UPDATE, DECEMBER 6: Dad is awake and aware. He is talking--and frustrated. He has a Bipap on his face (he has pneumonia now) so he can get the oxygen he needs and exercise his breathing. To imagine what communication is like, put a pillow over your face and try to talk with your spouse. You get the idea! He rolls his eyes and gives us this "Can't-you-understand-plain-muffled-English?" look.