My poor car, a 1984 Nissan 300ZX Turbo, is totalled, but I can't complain when we survived. I'd had it since 1994 and had already restored the body on it, including a new color which I call "Stealth Blue" because I found a Dodge Stealth just the perfect color and stopped asked the dealer for the color number. The inside still needed some work. Anyway, we were on our way to my daughter's on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and my husband was driving and I was in the passenger seat. It had rained some that morning after quite a dry spell and the roads were a little slick. We'd gone through several curves as we drove through the country to reach a connecting highway, when the car began to slide as we went around another curve. We slide sideways into a mailbox and the car flipped over on its top, then rolled on over, landing on the wheels. The last thing I remember is seeing the mailbox. The base of this mailbox was a coil from a D-9 Caterpillar! This stopped our momentum and we only turned over one time. If it had been an ordinary mailbox pole, I truly believe neither of us would have survived.

I'm including a picture of the coil that was the base of the mailbox, along with a photo of my son when he was in Honduras last spring with the National Guard. Is it a coincidence that he sent me a photo of him standing by a truck pulling a D-9 Caterpillar? (I wonder!)

When we landed on the top, it was more to my side (fortunately, because my husband is taller and it would have killed him!). I was knocked unconscious and he called for help. The accident took place in front a house, which on the 10-mile stretch are not real close together. They had heard the crash and called 9-1-1. Their daughter was at home who was a nurse and she came down and checked my vitals while waiting for the ambulance. Then within only a couple of minutes a truck arrived with 2 EMT's. They had been on the highway nearby on their way to another city and heard the call. So they were able to able right away also, then about 10 minutes later the ambulance from town arrived. We were about 7-1/2 miles out of town. Since I wasn't responsive they called for Life Flight, but as I came around and gradually began to answer their questions correctly that was cancelled. I remember them asking who was the president and I thought to myself "who cares"! At first I could only remember that they had a daughter and his wife was a senator (they finally told me I was one behind, and after then I began to remember better).

Well, I won't bore you with the rest of the details, but will summarize what's happened. I was taken to a trauma center because of the head injury but a cat scan showed I was okay. They took a lot of x-rays but didn't tell me of anything else and released me. Because of the pain I was feeling in my chest I went back to my doctor a week later and she informed me from the original x-ray report that I had a cracked sternum! A month later it wasn't any better so I went back again and more x-rays were ordered. This time a second fracture showed up. I went through several weeks of physical therapy, but was still hurting. Still another x-ray revealed that I had several broken ribs, plus a compression fracture (which was actually visible on a previous x-ray but overlooked!)!!!!

So the bottom line is another 2-3 months I should see great improvement, but will continue to have some discomfort in my back from the compression fracture. BUT I feel so FORTUNATE!!!!! It's amazing how much things can change in a micro-second!

I'm just now getting back to my dolls and am really chomping at the bit to get going again. Once again, I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement. I'm excited with Jim's new book coming out and have lots of ideas for new things I want to do. So stay tuned and I'll keep you all posted.

Here are a few pictures of my poor car (the middle picture is the driver's side where my husband was. He only got a bruise on his knee and a piece of glass from the T-tops in his ear. I was in the passenger side, shown in the last one):

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