In the darkened and quiet hospital room…amongst the beeps and buzzes of machinery, she sleeps…sedated, occasionally rasping a request for water…
I keep vigil, waiting for her to return to us, fully and completely…I’m dazed…it all feels so unreal. One 
moment, a healthy young girl is walking along a sidewalk, the next moment, a playful jump over a concrete planter, initiates a fall that results in a skull fracture, bleeding on both sides of her brain, a broken collar bone and what promises to be a long journey towards recovery…
Christmas at the hospital. It is a sad, quiet place…but I’m thanking God for His mercy, for things could be so very much worse…
I thank Him for the little “warning” last night at midnight Mass…the gentle words that came in prayer before Mass, as I exulted in the “mountain top” feelings of grace that were raining down…a gentle voice, in the depths of my heart, reminded me: “For every mountain top, there is a valley…” I didn’t understand then, but I do now…
I thank Him for my precious priest…he, too, has suffered a fall…yet, he was so quick to offer prayer and support. Meredith loves Father…and Father loves Meredith. Two have fallen, two are healing…may God protect them from further ills!
I thank Him for precious friends, many of them, who quickly offered us vehicles (ours aren’t quite road worthy enough for an extended trip), child care, prayer, money for gas and expenses, filling goodie bags with snacks and water bottles…literally and figuratively raining down upon us “manna from heaven…”
I thank Him for my beautiful, older daughter who rushed to her sister’s side first, asking all the right questions, treating her so compassionately…having left her little son in the middle of a joyful Christmas morning…
I thank Him for my own sweet, young ones…so quick to say “Mommy…please…go to her…go now, go now!” They give so much of their own joy away for the good of others…
I thank Him for my dear, oldest son…who quickly and confidently helped me pack and even accompanied me on the journey…insisting upon it, in fact. The first fleeting smile that our Meredith gave was at the mention of her brother Zachary’s name. She wanted her mommy…but she smiled for her brother…
I thank Him for this gift. It truly is a hard one to unwrap. I’m not sure how it will all work out, but I know the destination is grace…a journey towards heaven.
I thank Him that I’m here to love my girl. To pray for her. To stroke her hair, soothe her poor head…we’re spending Christmas together. There’s no crib, no tree, just the colored lights on the monitors, and the cool beads of my new rosary, counting by decades towards the Cross.
I thank Him for the staff of the Neuroscience critical care ward. For their kindness, solicitude and genuine caring. They, too, are spending Christmas at the hospital…away from their families, offering themselves for those suffering.
I thank Him for every little sound she makes…for her anger and confusion in those brief, wakeful moments…she is conscious…breathing…living…and healing.
Merry Christmas, friends. From a mom who’s keeping vigil, missing her hubby, home and children, but who is blessed with a heart full of hope and joy…may God bless, protect and give you peace!
Kimberly
I am a traditional Catholic homeschooling mother of 9 children, married for 30 years to the most patient and sainted man. As converts to Catholicism in 1991, our family has only recently discovered the beauty and full expression of our beliefs in the timeless liturgy of antiquity, the Extraordinary Form also commonly referred to as the Traditional Latin Mass. An avid knitter, I also enjoy gardening, reading and immersing myself in the everyday graces of my vocation.
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If there is anything I can do, besides pray, please let me know.
Dear Kimberly,
A gift you have to share. Thank you for the blessings I savour more through your journey
Prayers for continued miracles
God Bless
Gae
Meredith and you will be in my prayers as well.
God’s blessings!
Dear Kimberly,
My heart just cried when I read your post this morning. Although we don’t know each other, it sounds like such a familiar walk that the Lord has you on. It isnt the walk of the ordinary, but the extraordinary walk that looks like gloom to those of the world, but a glorious gift to us who walk it with you. Our family’s confessor calls it a “speckling of God’s Kingdom that is spead about and hidden”. We will pray for you all to persevere and for the reunion of your family by the Epiphany of our Lord. You are blessed – so blessed!
Love & blessings to you all, Kimberly B
We will keep your daughter–and your family–in our Rosary intentions. God grant you peace and strength.
Nadja
Kimberly, we are continuing in prayer for Meredith. We will add Fr. Lutz to our prayers as well, that he heals from his fall. I am so glad you were able to get there, and I knew if you did, Zachary would be at his mother’s side to help her. He is such a wonderful young man, and a true blessing to his family. It warmed my heart when I read how all the other children were urging you to go. They have such giving hearts, all of them. I pray, too, for your precious family.
We pray for the quick recovery of your daughter and for all of you. May the Blessed Virgin assist you in this time of need.
God bless you and your family always.
Continuing to pray with you, Kimberly. Please let us know if you need anything back here at home that we can do. We can run over for/with whatever the family back home needs.
Dear Kimberly,
I don’t know you but visited from reading another blog that was asking prayers for your daughter and family. Be assured that I am praying! Last year in February I was in a similar position with my young son , Sanjay. During a bone marrow transplant that we were going through he developed a massive brain bleed. I prayed the Memorare to the Blessed Virgin continually that he might be spared, but that if it were God’s will to take him, that it would not be until he was prepared to go straight to heaven. Sanjay received Confirmation and Last rites and began a miraculous recovery…but 2 weeks later developed another bleed and passed away shortly after. I am telling you this, that you might also ask Sanjay’s intercession for your daughter, as we have the blessed hope that he is in heaven with our Lord this minute. If you care to , you can look on the Caring Bridge website for the story of Sanjay Baca. I pray for your daughters complete recovery, and for peace for you and your family. May God bless you and hold you during this time.
God bless you, Karla…thank you for sharing the story of your precious son, Sanjay. May God use him as a tool for healing for all those who suffer as he did on his short time on earth. Peace to you and yours…
Dear Friends:
Your prayers and kind words are so very comforting! Meredith is recovering…regaining cognizance, according to the neuro-surgery team, with near miraculous speed. They say that the severity of injury that she suffered would have been the equivalent of falling out of a two story building…and could have been fatal. At best, they thought they would have to perform a craniotomy or that she would be in a coma. But prayer is a powerful thing! No surgery…though she will require round the clock observation for a week, and will have at least 3-4 months of recuperation afterwards, but she’s so very much better! She’s eating now, laughing and smiling. She is an anomaly in the acute care ward…it is a quiet place with many brain injuries and suffering souls. She’s been up and walking today…empty halls where she and I are the only ones walking about. There’s no crystal ball that will tell us just what the long term effects of this injury will be. At present she has a facial fracture, a comminuted skull fracture, the brain bleed has stopped, but she’s suffering functional hearing loss in her right ear due to that bleed. Her collar bone…not broke…a re-reading of the xrays revealed that she has an ACL separation and not a break, another small miracle! The only downside thus far: she doesn’t understand the severity of what’s happened and she has no memory of the accident. She seems to think that she’s just fine, that we’re making her stay in the hospital…she wants to go home but is going to require supervision and observation and she doesn’t understand why. So…continued prayers, friends! She has a good bit of healing to accomplish and still needs her full reason to be truly well. God is good…He answers every prayer!
Praying here for your family!
Dear Kimberly,
I will continue to pray for your dear Meredith’s complete recovery and for all of you during this Christmas season. May Our Blessed Mother comfort you as you take care of your daughter.
Dear Kimberly,
I came here via Nadja’s blog. I’ve just prayed for your little one, your priest, your family, and the medical staff. I have been in a similar situation and Mary guided me through. Peace and healing to you all. God bless! Hang in there.
Oh Kimberly, we will certainly join our prayers for Meredith, you and your entire family to everyone else’s! Thank God for the good news you are receiving now in the midst of these difficulties! It must be so hard for her–without being able to understand the severity of it all… Was there someone else with her at the time of the accident who was able to give you all the details? What a nasty fall she must have had for all to have sustained such severe injuries! May God grant you His divine peace and joy during this Christmastime, in spite of the crosses and trials He has allowed. God bless.
Her roommate and her boss were with her when she fell. They had just left the company Christmas party and Meredith attempted to hop over a concrete planter to join her roommate on the other side of the the sidewalk. She caught her boot on the edge of the planter. I know…it seems surreal that she has suffered such devastating injuries from such a seemingly harmless action. The doctors all say her injuries are consistent with someone who fell from a great height. Her poor, poor head! She needs such healing…I try to imagine how tenderly Mary must have cradled the head of her crucified Son…asking her to cradle my girl, too…
[...] this ordeal with my daughter, the image of the Sorrowful Mother has been constantly before my eyes. Perhaps it’s my own [...]
gosh. me the word queen can’t quite wrap my mind around this….i have been out of the blog loop for so long, yet for some reason the other day you popped into my head…and i wondered how you were doing….mucking thru all of my own familial issues has been hard enough for me, but i have this connection with some of my bloggy friends and i can’t help it…so my heart must’ve felt something wasn’t quite right with you and here it is…you are sort of where i was last year with my mom when she fell. it can be so scary and exasperating…yet when you experience God’s healing, faithful presence, as you have…you have no other choice but to be still and KNOW that HE IS GOD. and He has carried your family thru so many trying times, HE will carry you thru this one too…you have my prayers and love across the miles dear kimberly…cling to that sorrowful mother. heart pierced with a sword. and feel the LOVE….*hope your sweet girl is on the mend…i do feel for her and the awfuL headaches she is going to experience…so sorry this had to happen. xoxoxoxox
I’m finally catching up on some blog-reading…my own child recently had an accident, and we also spent Christmas in the hospital. It really struck me to hear you refer to this trial as a “gift”, and I realized that it’s the same in the situation with my son. Thank you for reminding me. Prayers for your family.
Dear Christine…I’m so sorry that you’re undergoing such a trial with your son, following his accident. I know nothing of what has happened in your family, but I know only too well how a simple accident can send one’s world into chaos. There are many oddly wrapped “gifts” out there…our Lord uses each of them to our good, if we’re only brave enough to “unwrap” them and accept them as blessings. I pray that all will be well for you…that your son will know healing and wholeness…that your family will be blessed in the midst of this suffering. Thank you for sharing your prayers with us…
Please Jesus, may we never forget our gratitude for healing our clergy and loved ones and if nothing else, may our suffering draw us closer to You.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2088730/Lauren-Scruggs-accident-Model-appears-public-losing-hand-eye.html