January 18, 2004

The phone ringing woke me from an early morning sleep. Still groggy, I picked up the receiver – unaware that this day would leave me forever changed. The news on the other end was something we all dread. The person on the other end was telling me that my son was in a car accident.

Getting into the car with a friend who had been drinking left him injured and unresponsive, the inside of his head filled with stretched and sheared neurons in his brain.

I had no idea that this day would be forever etched in time as a true dividing time in my life. My life is now divided into two segments – the time before his accident, and the time after his accident.

Jonathan is five years into his recovery this January 18, 2009. The time after his accident has been a long journey, filled with ups and downs. There have been times when he seemed to be taking a step forward, only to be thrust two steps behind in an instant. Our lives for the past five years have moved in slow motion, as we painstakingly watched him desperately try to recover and regain his life.

He was saved for a reason. There are times, when life seems to be against him, that I know he struggles to understand why. There are times when his life seems to be filled with more failure than success, and more sorrow than joy. But those are times to step back and take a look at the big picture.

On the fifth day in intensive care, January of 2004, he opened his eyes and looked at me.

It was December, 2006. The band was playing Pomp and Circumstance. The graduates were rounding the corner into the hall. I spotted him amongst the hundreds of black caps and gowns. As he walked up the aisle to the stage my eyes filled with tears of joy. Just a year and a half before, he was lying in intensive care, unresponsive and I didn’t know if he would even ever walk again.

In the spring of 2008, he loaded up his friend’s van with all his belongings. Heading out the driveway he went south – to start a new job and a new life four hours away from us, becoming totally independent again.

This the big picture in our forever journey.

And while he is still searching for that reason, I don’t know if I need to have a reason. I know that over the last five years we have built a strong bond with each other – one that otherwise, may have gone undiscovered.

I run my fingers through his dark brown hair and give his head a squeeze. While all my children are special, each in their own way, I can’t help but think of how I truly value this child’s brain – the very center of his personality, his intelligence and his emotion. I can’t help but think of him as a little boy – in the time before his accident, innocent and full of hopes and dreams. I can’t help but think of him as a grown man – in the time after his accident, wondering what his hopes are now and struggling to make new dreams that he can achieve.

But I do know that he will achieve.

And I will never look upon this day as the day I almost lost my son.

I will forever look upon this day as the day God saved my son.