Today we celebrate

Four months ago, my family was reminded how fragile life can be when my mom and aunt were severely injured in an auto accident.

The scene at the emergency room that night is one none of us ever want to experience again. If you have never seen a loved one in that condition, pray you never do. No matter how strong a person you think you are or how strong your faith is in God, you will cry as you experience the fear of losing people you love.

Thankfully, our family can celebrate today. My mom and aunt are doing great. My aunt has been back at home and at work for a while after her remarkable recovery, and now my mom is home.

We call her our walking miracle. In the accident, she suffered four breaks to her pelvis, two breaks to her neck, two broken ribs, two bruised lungs and numerous bumps and bruises. One of her lungs collapsed during her 10-day stay in the intensive care unit.

Today she can walk without a cane and do some of the things she could do before the accident. Through all of her pain and suffering, she never lost sight of her goal — to get better so she could enjoy life again.

Today we are going to celebrate. All of our family will be at my mom’s house to celebrate her birthday. She turned …. well, now that she doesn’t need a cane to get around I better not reveal her age. I may not be able to outrun her.

The last time we were all together she was still in the hospital, so this will be a much more joyful occasion.

When you go through tough times like that you learn a lot about yourself, family and friends. This experience reinforced what I already knew—I am blessed with an incredible family and good friends are priceless.

My family has always been close, and this made us even closer.

Something else that was reconfirmed is how awesome my sweet wife is. She rolled up her sleeves from the beginning and hasn’t stopped. Whether it’s been welcoming my mom to live with us for two months or helping me do yard work at my mom’s, she hasn’t complained and has helped throughout the entire process.

The awesomeness of God has also been reconfirmed. We prayed over my mom in ICU, we prayed as a family, we prayed individually, friends prayed and people we don’t know prayed. Many Dothan Eagle readers called and e-mailed that they were praying for my mom and aunt.

Through the sleepless nights and stress, we felt a peace and a strength that could only come from God. We also saw how God still heals.

I thank my God for being so wonderful. I thank my wife and all of our family for pulling together. I thank friends and strangers for their prayers. And, I thank my mom and dad for teaching us how to love and support one another through good times and bad times.

I think my dad is looking down from Heaven smiling upon his family today.

So today we celebrate and wish my mom a very happy birthday. We all love her very much.

Ken Tuck is the managing editor of the Dothan Eagle and regional editor of Media General Alabama Newspapers. He can be reached at or 712-7960.