I've never been a mother, but I have been mother
ly. The moment my eyes touched on the slightly ravaged face of Tawny's eldest son tonight, my heart wrenched. I've always teased you that all men revert to the age of childish 12. Well, here is a young man at 22 who just survived a bad car accident on Saturday afternoon and I saw him as when I first met him and he was at the vulnerable age of 12. The story didn't piece most of itself until this evening.
Tawny called me on Saturday afternoon telling me that Jeff had been taken to the hospital from a bad car accident and could I look up the number for Tampa General Hospital. They were on their way. My fingers nervously googled the number and I was able to rattle them off for her...I got call later that he was in the trauma unit. He was bleeding in his brain but the doctors were not concerned because he was still talking and then there was a part of his neck that was broken. His face was very swollen, his shoulders hurt and he was bruised. Even though he had his seat belt on, he still ended up on the passenger's side. Oh good God...Another call to log in to work to get the number of Jeff's boss' number from our global address in Outlook. Relatives had also arrived at the hospital...More calls and texts back and forth. By this time I had contacted our friend Kathy. The last message from Tawny in the late evening was that Jeff was getting a CAT Scan and her cell phone battery was low.
On Sunday, I called the nurses station to find out about Jeff and was told that they would pass my message along to the family. Shortly after I received two texts from Jeff's phone and voicemails from Jeff.
What?! Oh crap. Which Jeff had gotten into the accident? I thought it was Big Jeff and not Little Jeff. As crazy as it sounds, with all the frantic calls...somehow I got the message wrong.
The scene of the accident was an area where I would find Big Jeff first more so than Little Jeff. Tawny rarely calls the respective Jeff's "My Husband" or "My Son". I have heard her address them both as Jeff and Jeffrey. Did I mention that grandpa was Jeff, too? Jeezus.
Damn. I had to quickly update the people I told about the accident! There is more to this story but that is just getting into a Keystone Cop type of caper.
Once I finally received the story straight and threatened Tawny with a thrashing, she was able to let me know that Little Jeff was grumpy and not having a good time of it. He had a rough evening and no one really slept either. Jeffy was put in a bigger room to accommodate nearly 10 of his close relatives at one time. The doctors were going to rescan his brain in the afternoon. Then there was the matter of fracturing his C-5 on his neck which corresponds to your wrists, etc. of your body. (Googled it..) I was thinking this would suck extra since he is a drummer and works in IT. His diligent recovery and physical therapy would eventually depend on it.
Skipping to this morning. Tawny texted me that he may be going home today with a neck brace. In the afternoon, she IM'd me at work that they were home. Little Jeff would be at her home recovering instead of with his roommates. I told her I would be over after work.
Flowers...this 'little' boy would not want flowers...I decided on something that always makes
me feel good: Asian food. I went to the Chinese Takeaway and ordered food for him and me. A quick call to let Tawny know I would be earlier revealed that they were sitting for dinner and starting on soup. I had wonton soup for Little Jeff as well as other stuff, but he could eat them tomorrow. It was when I arrived that brings us to the top of this blog entry.
Little Jeff's dark curls were covering his head like scattered giant commas, some hidden by the big neck brace he was wearing. His face was slightly swollen and rash from the inside of his car painted his forehead and side of his face in garish strokes. His pained body was slumped over his meal and he had a difficult time collecting his thoughts from the pain medication he had just ingested. My hands couldn't help but stroke his hair and his back long after I set his Asian treat next to him. I was just happy he was alive and seemed okay. They told me he wasn't breathing when they found him and that the passenger side of his sports car was crushed severely when he avoided an elderly lady driving a big luxury car. Now he's dealing with his pain, the guilt he feels for being in an accident and the interruption it has caused with his friend's and family's lives as well as the humbling experience of having many visitors and calls on his well-being. A bad car accident is a difficult way to find out how many people care about you.
My motherly heart couldn't imagine what it would be like to have the heart of a mother. I think I would not be able to bear it seeing my child surviving such an accident or worse. The thing is...each of Tawny's kids started in the Natal Intensive Care Unit after she birthed them. I don't think she was expecting to see one of her babies in the (Adult) Intensive Care Unit. My shadow wasn't darkening the door of the hospital unless it had to. I am very glad I didn't this time around.
Could we light a small city of candles for Tawny now? The woman has been having a bad week. What is it -- God doesn't give us anything we can't handle? Tawny is one of the strongest women I know. It is without a doubt that she and her husband will weather last week's news and their baby's recovery again.
Prayers and Hugs,
Sprinkles
.
In the Name of the Son
