Thursday, December 1, 2011

Beat 283 - connected

"My heart is my mom.

Not a minute goes by that I don't think about her, worry about her,
and love her.

When I was 11, a drunk driver hit us driving almost 90mph. I remember
the accident like it was yesterday. The details are still so clear
that I shiver just thinking about that day. Our car was hit and my mom
instantly lunged over to shield me from danger. When we exited the
vehicle, we had no visible injuries but were extremely shaken up. When
the ambulance arrived, she refused to let anyone look at her and
insisted they take her little girl (me) to get checked out. I was
examined and released immediately.

A few days later, my mom was in serious pain and collapsed on the way
to seeing a doctor. We soon found out that she had broken her neck in
the accident and would need several surgeries to repair the damage.
The next 7 years were filled with surgeries and rehab and I never left
her side. I would pitch a fit until the nurses would let me sleep next
to her in ICU and I even bejewled all of her neck braces so that
people would smile instead of sadly staring at her when she had to
wear them.

I was so inspired by her strength and positivity throughout the whole
ordeal and then the unexpected happened. Tragedy hit again. A man
running late to work ran a red light and hit her car head on. The
previous fusion in her neck snapped and we were back to square one.
Most would have just given up. Not my mom. We made it through 2 more
surgeries over the course of 5 years. Instead of saying, "why me"? She
said "God must really want me here because I'm still alive through all
of this."

I feel so fortunate to have learned at a very early age to not take
anyone for granted. Each day is a blessing and I'm so thankful to
still have my mom here with me. Our bond goes way beyond the normal
mother- daughter one because she has and will always have my heart.
And so…. ..Not a minute goes by that I don't think about her, worry
about her, and love her."

- Cara Waltrip, NYC
Fashion consultant