Every parent's nightmare, part 2

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Lindsay Comes for Comfort and Prayer

At about 3:00 in the afternoon, I heard Lindsay come in the front door of our house. She had to go and cash her check and Bill told her to get gas in case the gas prices spiked. She told us we should fill up, too; so we did. Then we all came back to our house and Steve sat down with her to explain some of what was happening. She told me she felt much better after their talk.

A Very Special Prayer Meeting

Meanwhile, our Pastor called to tell us we were having a special prayer meeting for our nation and the victims’ families of the then known terrorist attacks. Two of our sons were still living at home. Brant was sixteen and Tyler, eleven. Steve, Jr. was living in his own apartment. The two younger boys had just started school a couple of weeks previous and said they had homework. We told them this was an important thing to do, to go and pray for our nation and assured them they would have plenty of time to do their homework afterward. Lindsay stated very emphatically that she wanted to pray and even said that the girls at work seemed more open to the gospel and she was excited about some evangelistic opportunities. She stayed and ate dinner with us and then we rushed out to pray for our country. Bill was to get out of work at 8:00 pm, so Lindsay drove her own car so she could leave early if need be to get him on time.

Our pastor spoke briefly about trusting the Lord in difficult times such as these, and then we went to prayer. We were all finished at about 7:40, so Lindsay and we left at the same time. Our family spoke briefly outside church and I remember giving her a hug and a few suggestions about setting up the crib. Then off we went toward home. I was driving because my husband, Steve had just gotten out of the hospital. The boys were in the middle van seat and we waved as Lindsay pulled ahead of us. She smiled her beautiful smile and we all watched something else we will never forget as we added these new images to the ones shown on television.

Oh No! He is going to hit Lindsay!

Unbeknownst to us, coming toward us was a drug addict who was passed out and slumped over the steering wheel. He crossed four lanes of traffic and we all watched as he hit our precious Lindsay head on. He completely spun her car around so she was facing the opposite direction. I pulled over and we all ran to her aid. We did’t have a cell phone at the time and I started yelling to the gathering crowd, Somebody, call 911. This is our daughter in here and she is 8 months pregnant! Brant, our sixteen-year-old son and Steve tried to pull the wreckage off of her. Steve said his feet felt like they were on fire and then we noticed the hot gasoline running out of the engine; the gas Lindsay had so recently put in her tank. It just seemed so ironic to me. Cars began to pull over. Brant yelled to some big, burly guys from a nearby restaurant to come and help. They couldn’t do anything.

The worse, She has passed

The worst moment of our lives was being played out in front of a hundred complete strangers who were powerless to do anything useful. I had run over to the open car window and was calling to her, “Linds, open your eyes, honey. It’s Mom. Come on, honey, open your eyes.” Before very long, the ambulances arrived…many ambulances. Brant was actually assisting the paramedic with CPR or something and they put the rest of us behind the huge fire engine so we couldn’t watch everything, I guess. It all became so strange and so terrifying! An already horrible day now became chokingly horrible. We had to call our eldest son, Steve Jr. to the accident scene and Lindsay’s husband, Bill. We had the police call our pastor whom we had just left a few minutes before at church. The paramedics and the officers told us, “We’re doing everything we can.” Later, “We have a pulse.” Still, later, “She is in cardiac arrest.” Then, “Please get in the vehicle, we have to talk to you.” In a moment, we heard, “She has passed.”


The terrorists at home

We sat on the ground on an otherwise calm, quiet night --shaking our heads. This was a different kind of shock than we felt in the morning watching the suffering of others. This was our day of terrorism. This happened in Grand Rapids, Michigan; in the suburbs returning from church. There were three guys in this vehicle, their weapon of death. Two more were passed out in the car as well as the driver. There were open syringes in the car and the Michigan State Police said the driver had enough heroin in him to put down six men, besides cocaine and marijuana. They were trying to go to a rock concert and because of the terrorist attacks it was cancelled. So, as Steve said later to the sentencing judge, Two destinies met that night; one returning from a prayer vigil for others and one car load of drug addicts who were shooting up as they drove home.

This An excerpt from a unpublished book, to be continued.