Comfort and Joy

I have been blessed with a wonderful family and when I heard about Twittermoms newest challenge for bloggers, I had to post. My family means the world to me, because we are much more than just related by blood, we are linked by the heart.

On August 16, 1985, my brother and I were with our church youth group returning from a trip to Niagara Falls. While we were on the way back, a tractor trailer hit our church van and flipped it 3 times. Three people out of the eleven on board were killed. My brother and I were lucky. Although we were severely injured, we were still alive and had not lost any family members.

When my parents were notified about the wreck, they knew they needed to make the long drive from North Carolina as soon as possible. They left immediately with only the clothes on their backs. My grandparents stepped in and went over to our house and took care of everything there. They fed the animals, made the needed phone calls and started making preparations.

Thanks to my father's lead foot, they made the trip in record time and arrived at my hospital in the early evening. I say my hospital, because I was in Wellsboro, PA. My brother had been taken to a hospital in Elmira, NY. I had been asking about my brother all day, and was told NOTHING. My parents cleared everything up for me and I was able to hear his voice that evening. My blood pressure did not go down until I heard him speak. I realized that no matter how much of a pain he can be, I did love him after all! I found out the next day that he had been asking for me and was having the same problem...worrying about me.

I understand now that my brother was my comfort. Through the entire situation, I was comforted when I realized that he was going to be okay.

The doctors wanted my brother and me to have surgery, and my parents felt it would be better for us to have it in our home state. My aunt and uncle stepped in here. They knew that my parents could not afford airline tickets to get us home. They not only bought the tickets, they flew up to accompany us home. From the moment they arrived, they served to comfort us!

We arrived home to find cards, flowers and gifts waiting for us, along with more food than our family could eat. It seems that our extended family and our church family had prepared food, sent flowers, gifts and cards, and called to find out what we needed. The overwhelming feeling of love that came from these people is beyond description.

After all the surgeries were over, it took quite a while for us to heal physically and emotionally. I will never forget all the love and COMFORT my family showed us during our time of need. This was truly my aha moment. I understood what family actually meant! Family does not have to mean blood relatives. Your family is the group of people who provide you with Comfort, Joy and above all Love!

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I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Kleenex blogging program, making me eligible to get a $40 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.