08/02/2024
To everyone else, this could be a standard family dinner. But for us, this is our annual dinner on February 7.
February 7, 2022 I was walking into Kroger to buy chicken and confectioners sugar. I was making Mexican chicken, and had cupcakes to frost for my business Gr8 bakes LLC. None of us knew that a simple trip to the grocery store would turn into one of the most traumatic events I've ever experienced.
I was crossing the parking lot at the crosswalk, when I looked up and to my left to see a truck leaving the 🛑 and coming straight at me. I have no idea what was happening inside the cab of that truck, but I locked eyes with the driver and thought "that truck is going to him me. That truck is heading straight at me".
I made my best attempt to side step it and quickly get out of its path. It turned. It hit me in both knees, and my right leg stayed out as I fell. The truck ran over my leg. The events that followed were less than pleasant. From how multiple people interacted with me, to the experience at the ER, to the trauma that this caused even my children even though they were all at school.
I found grace in those moments to give kindness to all those I encountered whether they did the same or not. I reminded myself that you don't know all of someone's story. You don't know everything someone's going through. 2 years have passed. I shut down my side business. I spent 6.5 months in an aircast. I've gone for countless tests, and doctors appointments, emotional pain, physical pain, and even more unanswered questions.
life is hard. And it's ok to allow ourselves to feel how heavy it is, as long as we commit not to stay there. Amidst pain and trauma, there is still joy around us and reasons to smile. And so, on Feb 7 every year we will make Mexican chicken, and eat something with frosting on it to try to find something positive, in a situation that still brings me so much anger. I will make share this meal with those I love, because honestly, I'm so incredibly fortunate to still be able to do so.
