Wow - what a day

So, I feel like I have to start this post with, "Noah is okay" but, on Monday afternoon, he was hit by a car. I've told this to so many people, but I'll do it again for the sake of those whom I haven't talked to.

The boys and I were walking home from school (Annie went home with a friend) when they heard the music of the cursed ice cream truck. They ran inside to get their money, then back out to choose their ice cream (I refuse to buy it for them, but if they want to waste their money on it, I let them). The truck was parked across the street. Brigham came over to show me what he bought, while Noah was still choosing his ice cream. This is when my memory gets fuzzy, but I think I was bending down to pull some weeds from the grass in our front yard when I heard yelling. I looked up in time to see Noah flying, then hitting the curb. I was frozen, and I remember thinking, incredulous, "Did he just get hit by a car??" I came to my senses and ran to him. It was a huge relief to see him immediately sit back up, crying like I have never heard him cry before. The ice cream ladies, as well as the two girls in the car that hit him, surrounded us. One called 911. I just cried and held Noah, noticing the blood from the back of his head drip onto my pants and arm. Within a couple of minutes, the police and an ambulence were there. Once they started taking care of Noah, I called my friend Summer, to get Brigham and Hudson (thank you Summer!!). My neighbor, Harriet, gave me her number to call once we needed a ride home, so that I could ride in the ambulence with Noah. Since my cell phone was completely dead (great timing!!), I gave Chris' pager number to Summer so she could get a hold of him. Chris met me at the pediatric ER, and we ended up staying until 8:30 that night. After much poking, prodding, cleaning, and x-raying, it ended up that Noah had some good scrapes and bruises, but that's all. What a miracle. The car that hit him was a small, compact one, and it wasn't going very fast. It may not have been going as slow as it should have past an ice cream truck, and that, combined with Noah running out right in front of it, the driver was not able to stop in time. It was an accident that sometimes happens, and we are just so grateful that everything turned out okay.

Noah stayed home for the next two days, and he went back to school today. He's still hobbling around a bit, since the hip that took most of the impact is still pretty sore, but his scrapes are healing. He's such a trooper - he was so brave the whole time.

I didn't take a picture of the bruise on his hip. I haven't even seen it myself - I'll leave that to Chris.
We've been overwhelmed with the kindness and concern of our neighbors, friends, family, and ward members. Times like these truly bring out the best in people.

Also, yesterday, the girl who hit Noah came by to see how he was doing and to apologize again. And she brought us an ice cream cake. I so admire her; I don't know if I would have enough courage to do that if I were in the same situation. It turns out that she goes to college (she wants to be a pediatrician), but she's home this semester, working as a nanny and helping out at home because her 17 year old sister was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. I can't imagine the turmoil she's gone through.

Although experiences like this are awful and traumatic (I'm not sure I'll ever get that image of Noah hitting the curb out of my mind), it really puts things back into perspective. We've all been a bit more patient with each other, and the little irritations of daily life with kids have not bothered me. Instead of groaning with annoyance at the pee on the toilet seat or the smears of dirt on every door frame and cupboard, I just smile and shake my head, grateful that my kids are alive to make these messes. I pray that I can continue to feel this way.