Five Years Ago

Today a big event in our family has been on my mind. 5 years ago, my husband was in a serious car accident. He's doing great, but that was a frightening time for us. Our son was in kindergarten and our little daughter was only 2 years old. I'd just decided not to take a new part time job and it was a good thing because all of our time became about helping his recovery.


This was him five years ago. It really was a bad accident and completely the fault of the other driver. Everyone survived and the other guy had no injuries. At the time, he felt he had to go right back to work. He really isn't a workaholic, but he is very responsible. Looking back, we should have taken a medical leave, but he still recovered. I did have to chauffeur him to-and-from work every day with the kids in the car. We listened to a lot of pop radio and Justin Timberlake and Snoop Dogg had big hits. It gets a little bit embarrassing when your 5-year old can quote Snoop Dogg....

This really was a tough time, and we got through it day by day. We feel extremely lucky and grateful since this event. Although it eventually led to my husband getting what we call an "amicable divorce" from his job. He was able to start his own business and we lived frugally on the settlement money while the business got underway. In many ways, our life is better since this accident. We had to confront some other issues and although I'd say we focused on the right things before, an event like this puts everything in sharp focus.

These days, he still had to drive and drive all over Chicagoland to see his customers. He once liked rollercoasters, but those are forever off limits as is downhill skiing, which we never did anyway. He always avoided heavy lifting or big jobs around the house and yard, but now he has an aching neck to blame.

Just today, I realized this car accident is part of the reason I'm still a stay-at-home mom, even though my children are both at school during the days. Having me at home gives us the calm, low-key life we all prefer. We all have our individual lives, but we are very much a team and support each other.

And completely changing the subject, I've been on a nostalgia trip on YouTube. I saw this several days ago and the tune is still going in my head. Anyone from the USA who was a kid in the 1970's will remember Schoolhouse Rock. These little shorts ran on Saturday mornings alongside the cartoons on network television. Some of us at a certain age can't read the words "We the People" without this tune embedding itself. It is election season here too, so I guess it is timely. My husband and I vote for completely different parties which only increases our resolve to vote in every single election in every race no matter how obscure in order to cancel out the other's vote.



Conjuction Junction is another good one as is A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing.

"I'm Just a Bill" is probably the most iconic of the Schoolhouse Rock shorts:


I also got nostalgic today about classic Sesame Street too. I'll save that for another day.