I will now continue my saga with the “raging moped.” After some time in the hospital emergency room, we departed, and I pleaded to continue our plans.  Additionally, a cherished necklace from Charles was destroyed in the accident. I returned to the scene to try and find the missing pieces, but the damage to the necklace was too extensive to retrieve.

That moment with my dear son is one which I wish I could have encapsulated and kept with me for the duration of my life. Never, had he possessed such empathy for me, as during that accident. Chris continued to plead with me to return to our cabin rental, but the time with him was incredibly priceless and I didn’t wish to be a deterrent to our plans

I continued to be “in a fog” from all that had occurred in such a short expanse of time, but my greatest anxiety was to continue our family outing. It wasn’t until we arrived at the restaurant and placed our order that for the first time in the past several hours, I realized the impact of my accident. As I walked into the ladies’ room, I was astounded. When I flew over the handlebars of the scooter, my face was dragged along the pavement. From the top of my forehead to the bottom of my chin, I had incredible asphalt burns and abrasions. My face literally appeared to have been assaulted with a meat tenderizer tool.

My hair was bloodied, as the emergency room staff didn’t clean my hair. My shirt had been torn and my chest had also been injured, as well as my legs, and arms. The emergency room physician had given me pain medication. Therefore, I was unaware of the degree of my wounds. I looked horrific. As I returned to the dining table, I apologized fervently to Charles and Chris for urging us to proceed with our plans.

My precious son was filled with compassion. He had been more concerned about how I felt than how I looked. I feel certain there was much embarrassment about me, but I was too “out of touch” at the time to have realized that. I was determined not to allow my accident to modify our family time.

The following day the plans did change. I attempted to play golf with Chris, but the pain was too intense to continue. We returned home early from our pre-college retreat and  my emotional grief was truthfully equal to or greater than my physical pain. I didn’t want our memories ruined by an accident. Little did I know that now over 27 years later, the recollections were indeed altered.

However, for me, the memories of that time are some of the fondest of our son’s childhood; not from the accident, but from the fact Chris had such concern for me. Also, he was a part of my life and that is a gift which no amount of money can ever purchase. Psalm 121:7 NIV, “The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life…”