Getting past 10:54

I laid in bed last night and watch the digital clock change from minute to minute actually counting the seconds in between, until it actually said 10:54. I breathed a sigh of relief. That would be one whole minute after the time my phone had rung a year ago, telling me Cathy (my daughter) had been in a motorcycle accident. The lady that called me was calm and precise... " Your daughter Cathy and her BF have been in an accident. Paramedics are on their way. We're at the 340 and 230 intersection." The whole time I could hear Cathy yelling and crying in the background. My heart stopped and for the next several hours I was on autopilot. I told Steve, told my Nephew Kyli to watch JR and was out the door. I actually followed the ambulance there and parked right behind it. There was my first born lying on the side of the highway with some strange man holding her head still. Bobby was laying on the opposite side of the road with a broken leg and only feet from the motorcycle that had thrown them and the deer that almost killed them and me as well. Bobby was taken off in the ambulance to Jefferson Memorial and Cathy was flown by helicopter to Winchester. The thoughts that race through your mind when something like this happens are a little overwhelming. I managed to get through the whole night without being too emotional. Bobby eventually was taken to Winchester as well for surgery on his leg, but Cathy was released to us later that night.... VERY skinned up and bruised and yes, cracked. She recouped at our house for a week and her mom came to pick her up. She's healed for the most part. Still with the BF that almost took her life, and hopefully never getting back on a motorcycle. I had my shining moment of emotions the day after the accident. While driving through the intersection on the way to the grocery store... I discovered I couldn't breath. My chest got so tight I knew it was a heart attack, but I managed through it. In the store however, I snapped at the guys with me (Steve, Kyli n JR), shoved a cart into a bread rack and had some kind of hissy fit next to frozen foods. It took about 6 weeks before that intersection didn't make me wince. It's been a year now and I can't begin to imagine what today would have been like had that day been worse. It's definitely a day for celebration!! I still have my beautiful Daughter and I can still hear her laughter whenever I want to. 10:54 won't be so important to me in 2011. I've gotten past that psychological trigger. Have a Happy 4th of July everyone.... I know mine will be.