Emily

Have you ever seen one of those sad movies? You know the one that starts out with a date like December 4, 2009 and a phone call. The broken voice on the line says, "It's Emily, she was in car accident... It's bad. We are waiting, hoping she makes it through the night...Max was in the car he needed some stitches but he will be ok." From the flash scenes they show you gather that Max is her 2 year old son. You see the accident unfold, a car losing control on an icy bridge and then two trucks doing the same. One hits the car from the front the other hits it in the back. You lean towards the screen as the helicopter tries to find somewhere it can land, the bridge is too icy to land on. Even the paramedics slip as they try to make it to the vehicles. More scene flash as the paramedics help both the woman and her child. The woman is revived and an emergency tracheotomy is preformed on the woman, a detail you later learn is pretty miraculous because the paramedics do not usually have the skills to preform such operations. You continue to watch as the family stands together and prays. Watch as the doctors work to stabilize the victim. Then you see her come out, broke but alive. You see Emily talking in whispers over her tracheotomy, learn she is currently a quadriplegic, but there is hope for a greater recovery. You wait for the Christmas miracle.

What do you think? Would you watch it?

Maybe.

Want to live it?

Of course not.

But I did. That broken voice over the phone was my Father's. Emily is my older sister and her son Max is my nephew. Sadly the Christmas miracle didn't come, at least not that we saw. She lived for 2 years after the accident but due to complications they were spent in hospitals and nursing homes. She never walked again, after a high fever her mental state was altered. She lost her ability to speak and though at times she seemed very lucid we never knew what her state of awareness was. She passed away on January 24, 2012, just over a year ago.

I miss her.

Emily was a great big sister. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She loved to teach, and even though they could frustrate her, she loved her students. She taught 8th grade reading. Her passion for her job and reading was easy to see. Her students nominated her for a golden apple award and her school was considering her for tenure the spring just before her accident. She also enjoyed playing board games. It seemed she was always introducing us to new games. She introduce me to my husband and was the first person to ever say my married name, though she didn't know it at the time. She was still trying to convince me to take an interest in him at that point. My married name was a selling point she thought it sounded french. Even though I rolled my eyes I thought it sound cool too. I don't know if she ever knew what a big influence she had in my life, but I pray she is in heaven helping me still.

I love you Em!