January Updates

Unfortunately I am still unable to figure out how to put photos on my blog after Papa updated it and put more space. So I will just write.

We ushered in the new year in Uxbridge and a highlight was all the giggles while playing Balderdash. We had many great days of skiing and snowboarding and got back to our home in the city to find snow too!

The year seemed to be going swimmingly well as we continued to catch up with friends at Evangeline and Sean's incredible, Ukrainian Christmas and dinner with our dear friends from Japan in our home. More skating with Grampa, dinners at Feathers, field trips with Gramma and art with Auntie Dee filled up our time in a wonderful way as we waited also for the arrival of the nonni from Newfoundland.

It seemed very quiet over there on Robin Drive and soon we found out why...unfortunately Nonna is quite sick and we are worried but hopeful too with all the amazing advances in cancer. After the surgery, Nonna will surely be ready for some fun again.

In the meantime, we made a plan on Sunday to spend the day with the Nonni by going to church and out for lunch afterwards. The boys and I took the GoTrain out to Clarkson on a very foggy Sunday morning and I remember thinking that I hoped we would not get in a car accident with all the fog. But it cleared up and before we knew it, we were on our way to the Pickle Barrel and just before we got there, experienced a nasty car accident afterall...with very few cars around and with the fog having lifted.

Papi made it well into the intersection on his green light when I saw a red mini-van coming towards us to our right and I yelled, "Papi!" I think I said it but the boys said I screamed it. Who knows? It was too late, we got crashed into and at first, I had presence of mind to think, "oh that wasn't so bad. We're ok." And then the curtain air bag hit me very hard in the head and I could not focus very well but remember Pit screaming, "my stomach, my stomach". Next thing we knew, a very gentle man asked if we were ok and could move and helped us get out of the car. I think I asked Mami if she was ok. Papi was already out of the car, I guess checking out the situation.

The boys and I waited safely by the corner, hugging, crying, answering questions by several paramedics and police officers. Hopefully messages were relayed to nonna but we did not hear how she was for quite awhile. Whereas I could pull my stuck leg out of the car door where it caved in, Mami was trapped and needed to be extracted by the "jaws of death." We were able to sit in the ambulance eventually to be assessed whereas poor nonna had to be put on a stretcher and taken to emergency and then had to wait for a long time in the hallway before getting placed into a room.

Papi seemed fine throughout it all must have been in shock when he told us right away to go ahead and have lunch at the Pickle Barrel which was about a 5 minute walk away. We would not have left nonna for anything and besides, the paramedics had to assess us, the police had to fill out reports based on our information (well done, Frunty for your observations!) and on top of the shock, trauma and pain of being hit so forcefully in the head and the boys jostled violently as well, we had lost our appetite!!!

We all made it to emergency and had several visits with nonna and some chats. The boys and I made ourselves eat some subs which normally would sound like quite a treat but were not as exciting on that day. We forced ourselves because I heard one needs sustenance in times like those! Gramma and Grampa came to pick us up at Credit River Trillium hospital and took us to the nonna's to put her purse in the house and for us to pick up our bag. Somehow, we did not do either!!! The boys watched some tv while I grabbed some of their winter clothes from the basement cupboard. Then we drove home in a daze and Gramma made us some dinner.

Somehow I took ten photos or so of the accident because I was so worried that Nonno would be blamed. But of course, the police took there own photos and it was very clear from the witnesses as well that the driver ran the red. But she had a long time to stop and when I saw her in the hospital she said she did not know at all what happened. It was a weird accident.

The three of us are sore and have not slept that well since the accident but and we all take turns talking about the accident. The number one concern is about nonna and how sad it is that she got the brunt of the accident...especially given that she is so unwell to start with...and we are very sorry about that...

On the other hand, how wonderful that we all survived that crash since being t-boned is really dangerous and although the airbags hurt a lot, they saved us from a worse fate! Sunday the 13 2013 will not be forgotten as a lucky day afterall because we all made it home that night, in one piece.

Happy New Year!