The
sound of the alarm clock woke me up and I reached over to turn it off. I
stretched and then begin to smile because today was a very special day. Today I was finally going to be wed to my
college sweetheart. We had dated two
years before he had asked me to marry him. God had answered my prayer and
blessed me with a wonderful man that would soon be my husband.
I needed to get up and get started
while it was still early. There were plenty of things that needed to be done
before this afternoon. Just as I was fixing to throw the covers back the phone
rang. It was probably mom giving me a wake up call. I answered and said
“Hello,” and the caller replied with, “ Good- morning
Mrs. Regina Davidson.” I giggled when I heard him and told him that he must
have the wrong number because my name was Regina Clark. He then laughed and he
told me how much he loved me and asked me was I ready for today? “ Yes, I’m ready to become Mrs. Alex Davidson,” I said. I
went on to tell him that if I did not get up that I would be late for my own
wedding. Before saying goodbye, Alex told me to be careful that it had sleeted
and snowed during the night. I assured him that I would drive careful.
While having some breakfast I turned
on the T.V. to catch the weather report. No more snow until next week, but the
temperatures were only to reach the low 20’s today. Well, I had better get a
move on since I knew that I would have to drive extra slowly. Driving in the
snow was something that I did not look forward to doing. The only places that I
had to go were to pick up my flowers and then get my hair and nails done. Then
it was off to my parent’s house to get ready and wait. From there a limousine
was to pick up the wedding party and me. Alex had made all the arrangements and
told me that his bride was to arrive in style.
While waiting for the car to warm up I
stood looking out the window. Outside it looked like a winter wonderland with
all the trees covered with glimmering ice. Just as I was walking out the door
the phone rang. I figured it was mom so I called her from my cell phone when I
got in the car. I was right and I told her that I would be there as soon as I
got my errands done. Before hanging up with me she told me to drive careful that
the roads were really slippery. I assured her that I would drive careful and I
would be there soon.
Alex and mom were right the roads were
terrible so I took my time getting to the florist. The florist already had my
flowers waiting on me when I arrived there. They were so beautiful and the
florist assured me that they would fine in the car while I was getting my hair
done. The beauty shop was on the next street and then from there I would be on
my way to my parents. When I got to the beauty shop I was the first customer so
it did not take long and then I could be on my way. My hair and nails looked
great. As I was walking out the door it dawned on me that I would be Mrs.
Davidson in about six hours. I smiled and thanked God for this man that He had
sent to me.
When I got back in the car I checked
the flowers, and they still looked great. I let the car warm up for a few
minutes, which seemed to be taking forever. My defroster had been giving me
some problems lately not wanting to defrost my windows all the way. Pulling out
into the street carefully, I soon got started on my way. My parent’s house was
out of city limits and there was only one road that I was concerned about. It
was one of them that had many curves in it. Well, I will just have to take my
time and I would be fine.
The sun was shining brightly this
morning, which made the glare of the snow to shine directly in my eyes. I felt
around in the car for my sunglasses and could not find them. Last week when I
had the car cleaned, they must have been misplaced. While driving I noticed
that there were a lot of children out enjoying the snow and ice. It made me
think about the children that Alex and I would have one day of our own. Alex
had already informed me that he wanted a house full of little ones. As I turned
to look straight ahead I tried to keep the glare of the sun out of my eyes.
Just then I saw something dart out in front of me, oh God, it was a child. I
immediately threw on my brakes without thinking, which caused the car to spin
around.
Everything was happening so fast and I
was trying to keep the car on my side of the road. As the car spun around again
I saw the truck that was headed straight toward me. “No!” I screamed out
loudly. I felt the car slam into the truck, which caused my car to slide into
the other lane. Another oncoming car hit me from the side, which caused me to
slide toward the steep embankment.
Within a matter of seconds my whole life was flashing before my eyes. I
screamed out, “God, please help me!”
The car slide down a short distance
then struck a huge tree, which helped me from sliding down any farther. When
the car finally stopped I was leaning on top of the steering wheel. My head was
turned in the direction of my side window and I could see how the door was
pushed in toward me. This is when I felt the warm wetness begin to run down my
face and in my eyes. I tried to raise my
hand to wipe away the blood and found out that I could not move my arm. Maybe I
had broken my arm, so I tried to lift the other arm and could not move it
either. What was wrong with me, I tried sitting back and realized that I could
not move any part of my body. That’s when I started screaming for God or
someone to help me.
In a few minutes I heard the sound of
the siren that was getting closer. I tried to pull myself together but was not
doing a very good job of it. Soon an ambulance driver stood at the window and
he was asking me was I alright? I just sat there leaning on the steering wheel
staring at him. He asked again, “Miss are you alright?” I finally was able to say yes, but told
him that I was in a lot of pain. He told me to sit still until he could pry the
door open. It took him some time before he finally got it opened enough to get
to me. He then reached in to help get me out of the car and then asked if I
could sit back for him. I told him no
that I could not move any part of my body, that I had tried already. The pain was so intense at this point that I
was starting to lose consciousness.
I ran as fast as I could to the desk
and ask where was Regina Clark? The receptionist then
asked me was I a member of the family? “Yes,” I said, “well not yet, I am her
fiancé.” I was told that some doctors were seeing
We all found a place to sit to wait
until one of the doctors’ come out. I asked her dad if he knew what had happened.
“When we were coming in the E.R. I met one of the
ambulance drivers that brought
It seemed like hours before the doctor
finally came out to talk with us. He
walked up and shook hands with all of us and introduced himself as Doctor Wayne
Baker.
I remember walking down the hall and
out the doors that lead outside. As I was walking all I could think about was,
what was to become of us. Oh God, please help
The surgery was taking longer than I
had anticipated. It had already been five hours since they took her back for
surgery. There was nothing that we could do at this point other than pray and
wait. Soon the doctor finally came out and sat down with us. I ask him right
away how was
Mrs. Clark asked the doctor how long
would she have to stay in the hospital? Doctor Baker
explained to us that she would need to stay for rehabilitation and therapy for
several months. I will help make all the arrangements for when the time is
ready for her to go home. Miss Clark will have to have someone to stay with her
most of the time. While she is on the rehabilitation floor we were told that
she would be taught to do many things from her wheelchair. “Like what, what
will she be able to do anymore?” I ask. I just could not understand how her
life will be the same anymore. Doctor Baker said, “You are right, she will not
be able to do the same things as before the accident.” He went on to say that
she would learn how to do many things from a computer and a device that will be
connected to her wheelchair. “Mr. Davidson, I understand that this is a big
shock to everyone, but she can live a full life in this condition,” he said. I
just sat there wondering how in the world could I take care of her like this
and work a job. My next question was when could we go and see her. He told us
that he had her in the I.C. unit for the next 48 hours to make sure that she
would have round the clock care. He also told us that when she wakes up and
knows what is going on that he would talk to her and explain her situation to
her. Before leaving he told us that her face had quite a few cuts and that she
had many bruises all over her body. “I just wanted you to know before going in
so that you would not be shocked,” he told us all.
We all took turns of going in to visit
with her for a few minutes at a time. I of coarse let her parents go in before
me. When it was my time I went to stand up and my legs felt like Jell-O. God, I
pray that you will give me the courage to do this. Opening the door with
shaking hands I enter her room slowly. The first thing that I saw was the halo
that was connected to her skull. Her little face was swollen from all the cuts
and bruises. I felt the tears starting to well up in my eyes and knew that I
needed to be stronger than I had ever before in my life. Here laid the women
that I loved and was suppose to have married today. The whole time that I was
with her she slept. I reached down and took her hand in mine, I ask God to take
care of her for me.
All three of us stayed at the hospital
for the next two days until she was moved into a private room. The second day I
went in to see her, I walked over to the bed and she opened her eyes. The first
thing that she managed to speak, “was the little boy all right?” “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I
said. Slowly her words come out and she said that a child ran out in front of
the car. I told her that I did not know about any child being hurt in the
accident. I heard a sigh come from her lips and she closed her eyes. The nurse
came in and told me that my time was up, so I reached down and kissed her check
softly.
When I went back out to the waiting
room I shared with her parents about the child running out in front of the car.
Mr. Clark told me that he would find out all that he could, but he had heard
nothing about a child being hit. “This may be the reason why she lost control
of the car to begin with,” I said. I stood up and told her parents that I
thought that I would go home for a while and shower and may lie down and take a
short nap. “ By the way the nurse told me before I
left that they would be moving
On the way home all I could think
about was that she would never be able to walk again or move her body. How
could anyone possibly live in that condition for the rest of their life? As I
pulled up in the driveway I started to cry with my whole heart. I was crying so
hard that my whole body was shaking all over. God why, why
The phone woke me up from my sleep and
I reached for it on the end table. “Hello,” I said. It was
After I arrived at the hospital I went
straight to
I knew that speaking was difficult for
her and I respected her wishes and let her talk. “Alex,” she began, “I love you
with my whole heart, but I can never marry you.” While sitting on the bed
beside her I could feel the tears starting to fill my eyes. “I know you are wondering why, but I do not
want to be a burden to you for the rest of my life,” she said. I interrupted
her after this and told her that she could never be a burden to anyone. She told me that her doctor had explained the
way that she would have to be taken care of for the rest of her life. With
tears in her eyes she ask me to leave that she needed to be alone. I did as she
ask, but before leaving I turned around and told her
that I would love her forever.
As I walked down the hall I kept my
head down to keep everyone from seeing the tears that were flooding down my
checks. I just needed to be alone for a while and I ended up going into the
hospital chapel. I went in and shut the door so that I could have some privacy.
What was I going to do now that
When I woke up I looked at the clock
and it was
I jumped up quickly and rushed out to
the car and drove straight to the hospital. As I was running down the hall I
was praying in my mind for
I walked off and started walking
toward the chapel and thought while I was here that I would go and pray. There
was no one in there so I shut the door so that I would not be bothered. As I
sat there with my eyes closed I heard the door open and turned to see who had
opened the door. An older man stood there and said that he did not realize that
anyone was in here. He went on and apologized for disturbing me and I told him
that it was fine, not to worry about it. With that he came on in and shut the
door behind him.
The old man asked me did I have a
loved one that was here? I told him yes I did, it was
my fiancé. He came and sat down beside me and started talking about a friend that
he had come to see that was there. I really was not up to talking with anyone
especially someone that I did not know. Without thinking I blurted out that I
really did not feeling like talking right now. The man said that he was sorry,
but sometimes it helps to talk about what was on my mind. I sat there with my
head hanging down and he reached over and patted my back and said that God
could work all my problems out. When I heard those words I put my face in my
hands and began to weep. It was strange, because I had this desire to share
with this stranger my story about
I began from the beginning of the
accident and had got to the part where
Then he told me something that I found
to be really strange. He told me to go to her right now and tell her how much I
loved her and that I wanted to marry her no matter what had happened. I stood
up and reached to shake his hand and told him thank you for all the wise advice
that he had given me. “You are welcome and God bless you both,” he said. When walking
down the hall I had forgot to ask him his name so, I turned around and started
back to the chapel. When I opened the door there was no one in there. I ran out
of the room and up the hall and could not find him. I know that he could not
have gone past me. Where in the world did he go and who was this man?
I looked down at my watch and seen
that it was nearly
I walked as fast as I could so that I
could get to
I began by saying that I loved her
with all my heart and that I would always love her. “God had put us together no
matter what comes our way,” I said. When I got started the words tumbled out of
my mouth. I told her that I knew that
things would be different but that did not change my love for her and that she
would not be a burden. I said, “Please Regina do not push me away, I want to
marry you and help take care of you.” I also told her that with God’s help that
I knew that we would make it. This is when I saw the tears falling from her
eyes and she told me that she had not meant what she had told me. “The real
reason I said all those things was because I thought that I would ruin your
life,” she said. I leaned over and kissed her softly and stroked her hair and
told her that my life would not be complete without her in it. I ask again,
“Will you marry me Regina Clark?”
Six months later we were wed and have
been married now for over 12 years. We have meet many
challenges since then, but God has helped us through each one. Our love over
the years has proved to be strong enough to carry us through the rough places
in the road. We also have four beautiful children that we adopted and love as
if they were our very own. I still have my work that I do, but I am able to do
a lot from home.
I
would like to dedicate this story to my good friend and brother in the Lord, Antwan
Taylor. In real life, Antwan was in a car accident
when he was only 18 years old. The accident left him paralyzed from the neck
down. Antwan is a wonderful young man of God that
always has a great attitude about life. Instead of seeing what he cannot do any
longer he looks at what he can do to help others. When I see him I am reminded
to be thankful that I am able to do some things. We all should thank God each
day for giving us another day to enjoy and spend with our loved ones. I do hope
that each of you has enjoyed my story. Try to remember that God has a plan for
each of us. He will also be there to help you down any unplanned roads in your
life. God bless all of you always.
Barbara Lynn Arnold