Well, wasn’t that interesting?

As some of you may know, I recently stepped down from my position here at the Telegram. I had absolutely no intention of doing so but my mental health required me to take some time for myself. I also never thought I would return back to my desk but once the air cleared, I knew I needed to. 

In my short time away, so many of you reached out…So many of you called, emailed, texted or offered your kind and supportive words. Thank you. I missed this place. 

When I returned to the office on Friday, I had the full intention of writing an opinion piece on just how important it is to take care of your mental health however throughout the course of the weekend, my topic changed completely. 

Yep. Mental health…super important. 

Saturday afternoon, while I was preparing to head to the pumpkin patch for the evening, my sister called. We normally speak multiple times throughout the course of the week, and we had just briefly talked on the phone that morning. When she called, the ring sounded different. I can’t tell you why or how, but the ring sounded differently. 

My sister, catching her breath, calmly asked me to sit down.

My nephew, his wife and their two daughters were hit by a train in a small Texas town early Saturday afternoon. 

My heart sank as I listened to my sister panic as my brother-in-law was calling every hospital in the surrounding area, trying to find my two young great-nieces, my nephew and his wife. 

My family has always had a great deal of guardian angels and we are blessed. 

My sister was able to find the girls. They were alive and stable. My nephew’s wife was also stable, but my sister couldn’t find her son. 

Nothing prepares a person for that moment. Nothing. 

Four victims in the pickup truck. Two were life-flighted to Temple, Texas and two were taken to two additional hospitals in Waco, Texas. My nephew was entered under “John Doe,” which made him harder for my sister to locate. It took five hours to find him. 

I cannot express how unbelievably lucky my family was. 

My youngest great niece had minor bumps and bruises and she was released to family that evening. My older great-niece, who was life-flighted, has a small brain bleed and a broken leg. She’s been monitored in the children’s hospital. My nephew’s wife has a small fracture in her back, a broken rib and some internal bleeding. She is being monitored in the hospital. My nephew, also life-flighted, sustained most of the injuries with a badly broken leg, wrist and pelvis and severe internal injuries. 

As I write this, details are still coming but all four of them are alive. Healing will take an unbelievable amount of time but all four of them are alive. 

The odds of surviving a train vs. auto accident are 7%. 

As you can imagine, my thoughts on mental health, are important…but there is something much more important I need to say this week. 

Life is short. In the blink of an eye, it can change so much. 

The last time I went to Texas was for my nephew’s wedding. I haven’t even begun to process what has taken place but in hopes of doing so, I looked through the wedding photos Sunday morning and to my surprise, there are no photos of my nephew and me on his special day.

Sure, when he was a little guy, we had plenty of memories captured with photographs! Birthdays, Christmas andeverything in between. But as time goes on, we don’t think about keeping our pictures up to date. There is always some reason we aren’t included in the photo. Maybe we are the ones holding the camera, maybe we don’t like having our photos taken…whatever the reason may be, it is so important to capture memories of your loved ones. But please, don’t sit that photograph out. Be there. 

We often take for granted tomorrow will come for all of us. 

As the dust begins to settle on Monday morning, the latest updates are much better than to be expected but alarming, nonetheless. 

My nephew is scheduled for more surgery where they will repair his pelvis and mangled arm later today. The youngest of my great nieces cheerfully admitted she wasn’t alone in the back seat of that truck Saturday. Even though her older sister was with her, clearly the entire family had angels watching over them. It’s just another sign, another example, another reason why I know we are never alone. 

This morning, my sister stopped at the wrecking yard to see what was left of my nephew’s pickup and while she was there, she was informed my nephew’s accident was the third train vs. vehicle accident to occur at that intersection. All three accidents happened within five months of each other. Witnesses for all three accidents reported the train did not sound a whistle while crossing the roadway. My nephew and his family are the only known survivors of the three accidents. There are no crossing arms. No lights. Only a yield sign.

So, I was going to explain why mental health is important. Why it is important to take care of yourself before you take care of the needs of others but clearly, I had a better message to share. 

We are never alone. Even when it feels as though there is no one beside us, we are never alone. Be present in your life. Take photographs and for heaven’s sake, make sure you’re in them too.