Things to be grateful for today...

There are alot of things that I am grateful for, and I hope that I am someone who shows that gratitude as much as possible. But something happened today that reminded me of my gratitude for a few specific things. Let me explain.

This is how the turkey bowl that Rand and I played in today ended. That is Rand below:

We got up early on Thanksgiving Day to play some a traditional game of flag football with some of Rand's friends from home. It was a perfect day for it! In fact, we were having so much fun that after a few hours and a quick break we decided to keep playing. I think it was only three plays later and this was the result.

Rand and another guy were going after the ball and collided (Rand's head into his shoulder). Most of us weren't near them when it happened, but we heard it. Rand fell to the ground and I think we all were expecting him to grab his head and roll around a little bit. He didn't. He didn't do anything. He was just lying there completely still. (insert my panic now)

We ran over to him and rolled him from his side to his back. His eyes were open but he was totally unconscience. It was so freaky. We were talking to him and there was no response. We could see that he was breathing, but there was no movement in his eyes or body at all. I think we were all in shock at first and were waiting a little bit for him to come to. He wasn't. I started to panic and just basically demanded that somebody do something (I didn't yell or anything. I was suprisingly calm on the outside, but panicked on the inside.)

One guy ran and grabbed his phone to call 911. Two of Rand's good friends, Nick and Ian, gave him a blessing. It was right as they were doing this that Rand came to. He was moving and trying to get up but we all made him stay down. Ian was asking him a lot of questions to make sure to keep him conscious. He had no idea what had happened but was able to answer other things like his name, birthday and address. It was about 5 minutes before the paramedics arrived and Rand doesn't remember anything during that time before they came. He remembers the paramedics though. They came and started accessing everything and asking him questions as well. He answered his birthdate right, but when they asked him how old he was he said he was 21. :o)

I had his friend Zack (Pen) call his house (and ask for his dad, not news you want to give mom!) They met us at the field right as Rand was being taken to the ambulence (you can see them in the picture below). I was running and grabbing all our stuff to throw in the car and getting Rand's insurance card. Then I hopped in the cab of the ambulence and we were off. They gave Rand some oxygen during the ride and that seemed to help his memory alot then. He remembers getting into the ambulence, but not out of it.

(side note: I did not take these pictures, I was a little too distracted. But once the paramedics arrived and we knew it was good, Rand's friend grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots for posterity sake.)

They did some x-rays and a CT scan and everything checked out clear. They told him he'd have a pretty good headache for a few days but that he was fine to sleep and do normal acitivity. He isn't suppose to play any sports or do anything where he can hit his head again for a few weeks.
The doctor said that is where the real injuries would come from.

We went home, had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner provided by his parents (though Rand's appetite was nothing close to normal. Good thing we have plenty of leftovers.) He slept alot and took plenty of tylenol. He's feeling a lot better but is feeling pretty stiff and still has a good headache.

So what exactly has this reminded me that I am grateful for...three things:

3. Insurance: I am so grateful that I have a job that provides really good insurance coverage. Not that I would have had to think twice about calling 911 or going to the hospital, but I have very little concern over the amount we will have to pay for this. It is a great blessing for us financially to know we can have these things taken care of and it won't effect us for months afterwards.

2. The power of the priesthood: I'm so grateful that Rand has good friends who are living worthy of holding the priesthood and being able to administer a blessing to him at such a critical time. I know that there were a number of the guys on that field who could have done it if needed. And I'm grateful that they thought to do this first before anything else. Even though we really didn't know the extent of the injury, having a blessing given to him at that time was such a calming thing and brought some peace to me (and I think everyone).

1. Rand: What's funny is that through all of this, I haven't cried at all. I think I get that from my mom. No time for freaking out in that situation, you just have to act to get things done right. But now as I type it, I'm crying. I'm so grateful to have Rand in my life and for all that he does to make me and my life better. I can't imagine not having him in my life and that was something that I wouldn't even let myself think of while he was lying there motionless. I love you Rand!

So...that was our Thanksgiving. Never a dull moment in our family (either side). I'm usually the accident prone one, so I think my family and friends were shocked to hear it was Rand and not me. Since we've been married that's been two trips to the ER for Rand and NONE for me! (knock on wood!)

Now I can't forget to post as well that the night before we got together with some friends that Rand grew up with and played games, chilled and chatted. We did a little Wii bowling. I was the winner (I just played with his dad's character). I'd never played bowling before (only played Wii once before ever) and I had 8 strikes and a 2 spares. haha...beginners luck! If only I could bowl that in real life!

We also played a little catch phrase and that is always fun. The guys had an amazing 'come from behind' finish to win the game!


Funny side note: Rand's good friend Regan (in the white shirt) text him after the hospital and said, "Rand, this is Regan, do you remember me?" and today he followed it up with, "I don't know if you remember, but I leant you $50 yesterday." Haha...the 'forgetful' jokes will probably not get old anytime soon!

Thankyou everyone for a FUN and UNFORGETTABLE (unless you are Rand, of course) Thanksgiving!