Thursday, July 3, 2014

parents... go do this right now.

I have this sweet, sweet friend. She has 3 kids... pretty much the same ages as mine. 
Her kids were in a horrible car accident with their dad a little over a week ago while they were traveling. Horrible. 
But... they are okay. A little traumatized (of course), but physically they are all okay. 
Their dad wasn't...  but is going to be. The whole thing is a miracle, really and truly. 

This accident was an eye-opener. In a lot of ways. 
And God was definitely with them. No doubt about that. 
And it was definitely scary. For a lot of people. 

One of the scariest parts for me is thinking about the kids... right after the accident. 
Their dad was unconscious instantly, but the kids were smart enough and brave enough to get out of the car and move to a safe spot. (God put an off-duty highway patrolman and his family on the road right behind them...) The kids knew their mom's cell phone number... but she was out in a wheat field, riding in a combine and didn't have her cell phone with her. Their dad's cell phone wasn't damaged in the accident, but it had a passcode on it. And they didn't know it. It was a couple hours before they could get in touch with their mom. 

I realized after hearing this... my kids would be exactly the same. 
They know my cell phone number. And that's it. 
There aren't many phone numbers that I know, honestly. (I know Corey's cell (but not his work one), our parents' numbers and my dad's vet clinic.) (I can also remember 3-4 friends numbers from high school, but those probably aren't so helpful.) =) 

Our phones don't have passcodes on them (and they won't now!), but what if a phone was damaged in the accident? There are so many people now without home phones, only cells... phone books aren't always that helpful. We have a list of phone numbers on the refrigerator, but cars never even occurred to me. 

So... there is now a laminated copy of this in each of our glove boxes. Just in case. 
Any numbers that the kids (or us!) might need in an emergency. 
And the names of a few friends who I know would drop everything and be on the way to help if needed. 

And while I hope we never have to use this... I feel much better knowing it's there.

1 comment:

Jenny said...

I would never have thought of this! What a great idea! Thank you!