this isn't how the new year is supposed to start......
I was chatting with my roomie (whom I miss so incredibly much) when the phone rang. All I heard on the other line was sobbing. I heard a "hi" but I had no idea whose voice it was. I was scared! Who is crying this hysterically on the phone to me? What's wrong? What happened? After a second, I figured out it was Heidi. As you all may or may not know, Heidi is an incredible friend of the family. She grew very close to our family because of our similar divorcing households situation. She managed to say Aaron's name, so I called for him and had him get on the phone to try and calm her down.
I thought maybe she had just broken up with Kimo (a Somoan man she's dating). And Aaron's her best friend... or so they were, so I figured she just wanted his comfort.
A few minutes later, Aaron hung up and walked in the den behind me. My body tensed, as I asked him what she said. As the piercing tears cut at his throat, he was hardly able to talk. Heidi's younger sister, also Aaron and Brandon's good friend, Bridgette, was killed in a car accident today. It happened in Jackson Michigan today between 11 am and noon. She was riding with her boyfriend's sister. Somehow, the sister lost control of the car and upon hitting a tree, Bridgette was killed instantly while the sister remains in surgery. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to console my brother or how to even focus on the rest of the day. How could this happen? Yet another devastation to the Fleagle family! 2 years ago (approximately), Heidi's mom cheated on her dad with their family's best friend's dad. It also happened to be Heidi's boyfriend's dad. So their family was torn apart. Wow, two amazing Christian families torn like a sheet of paper. Just when they begin dusting themselves off, they lose a daughter/sister!
I've been numb all day. I'm brokenhearted for that family. A family that has been so faithful in praying for and caring for me and my situation, even through their own problems. And yet again, something so horrible happens to such a wonderful family. To such a wonderful set of girls and their unshakeable father. I don't know what to say. The phone calls pour in to the Tagert household, asking for and sharing more details. I cannot imagine the pain that Heidi, Jessica and their father are feeling right now. I cannot imagine getting a call in Hawaii on your cell phone from your father, hearing that he was going to pick up your baby sister and bring her back home to make funeral arrangements. I cannot imagine having to call to get the earliest ticket on the most miserable flight you will ever take, to reach home, which isn't so much a home. It's broken.
All of this has made me think pretty hardcore today. With the tsunami and stuff, and now this..... our time on earth is SO short. I cannot stress SO short enough! The end is drawing near! It really is. This is definitely a check to see how my relationship with God is. Definitely a day full of prayers through many sobs. Incredible. Please pray for that family. The Fleagles. Usually I would be excited out of my mind to see Heidi.... but not this time. Not under these circumstances. I'm scared. This isn't how the new year is supposed to start. Not attending a funeral. Not getting another phone call in the same day that a friend is being flown from Jamaica to U of M hospital with a collapsed lung. Time is precious. How are you spending it?
I thought maybe she had just broken up with Kimo (a Somoan man she's dating). And Aaron's her best friend... or so they were, so I figured she just wanted his comfort.
A few minutes later, Aaron hung up and walked in the den behind me. My body tensed, as I asked him what she said. As the piercing tears cut at his throat, he was hardly able to talk. Heidi's younger sister, also Aaron and Brandon's good friend, Bridgette, was killed in a car accident today. It happened in Jackson Michigan today between 11 am and noon. She was riding with her boyfriend's sister. Somehow, the sister lost control of the car and upon hitting a tree, Bridgette was killed instantly while the sister remains in surgery. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to console my brother or how to even focus on the rest of the day. How could this happen? Yet another devastation to the Fleagle family! 2 years ago (approximately), Heidi's mom cheated on her dad with their family's best friend's dad. It also happened to be Heidi's boyfriend's dad. So their family was torn apart. Wow, two amazing Christian families torn like a sheet of paper. Just when they begin dusting themselves off, they lose a daughter/sister!
I've been numb all day. I'm brokenhearted for that family. A family that has been so faithful in praying for and caring for me and my situation, even through their own problems. And yet again, something so horrible happens to such a wonderful family. To such a wonderful set of girls and their unshakeable father. I don't know what to say. The phone calls pour in to the Tagert household, asking for and sharing more details. I cannot imagine the pain that Heidi, Jessica and their father are feeling right now. I cannot imagine getting a call in Hawaii on your cell phone from your father, hearing that he was going to pick up your baby sister and bring her back home to make funeral arrangements. I cannot imagine having to call to get the earliest ticket on the most miserable flight you will ever take, to reach home, which isn't so much a home. It's broken.
All of this has made me think pretty hardcore today. With the tsunami and stuff, and now this..... our time on earth is SO short. I cannot stress SO short enough! The end is drawing near! It really is. This is definitely a check to see how my relationship with God is. Definitely a day full of prayers through many sobs. Incredible. Please pray for that family. The Fleagles. Usually I would be excited out of my mind to see Heidi.... but not this time. Not under these circumstances. I'm scared. This isn't how the new year is supposed to start. Not attending a funeral. Not getting another phone call in the same day that a friend is being flown from Jamaica to U of M hospital with a collapsed lung. Time is precious. How are you spending it?