Little Black Raincloud

Road to Hana, Maui

I feel like we have a little black raincloud over our house. Initially, it really was just the rain...and now, well it seems to be more accurate metaphorically speaking. All we did was go into the town of Lihue yesterday for a short little jaunt of running errands and picking up Ben from school....

Heading back home we stopped at the red light at the Nuhou/Kaumuali'i intersection by Cheifess Middle School. We were second from the stop line; a black truck had the lead. We sat for several moments before we heard loud screeching, metal crunching, glass shattering and finally we felt the slam of our minivan into the black truck ahead of us. "What the...?" was all we could say. We leaped out of the car to find an amped up yellow Polihale road worthy "attitude truck" (the driver had an attitude to match) slammed into the little white rental behind us obliterating their back end. This guy was booking it. The impact, of course had a domino effect and one car slammed into the other....4 cars in total...8 people.

The couple in the white rental behind us had just landed on Kauai from India for a few days to celebrate their honeymoon. The woman seemed to complain of the most injuries involving lower back pain and neck pain. She was placed on a spinal board with a neck brace and whisked away to Wilcox hospital.

The black truck in front of us with a local couple sustained little to no injuries and were happy to emerge unscathed. The guy in the yellow truck disappeared under the front of his vehicle and seemed oblivious to the fact that he could have injured/killed 7 other people. He avoided talking to any of the people whose life he endangered. Interesting...was he hiding from embarrassment or was he more concerned of the damage to his truck? I have my suspicions.

Ben emerged from the van unscathed...just startled and scared. Ed and I both emerged with immediate neck and back pain accompanied by headaches. Doctors appointments have been made as we will need to get assessed for insurance purposes. The headache begins with damage appraisals, assessments, car repairs and insurance collections. Oy!

We are just happy to have arrived home safe and sound.

Short and Sweet

Life is just sort of moseying along. Nothing monumental to report. We've had lots and lots of rain this winter. So much so that the water is seeping into the closets and soaking our clothes on the shelf. The rain is getting old but it keeps the island looking lush so there is really nothing to complain about. Except the lack of motivation it brings with it.

Ben is doing well and started in all regular education classes this week. This of course, has added stress and a feeling of being overwhelmed which leads to "I'm not feeling well" and "I don't want to go to school". He has missed 1 1/2 days of school this week due to "sore throat,headaches, cough and dizziness". While I am not discounting that he may indeed have an illness (alot of people around here have something and the rain/mildew does not help), I do suspect that avoidance may be the key source of the headaches and such. School is getting tougher and it's easier to bail out than deal with the issues. He does meet with a skills trainer for 1 1/2 hrs. every day after school which I actually think he may enjoy although he'll never admit it. Of course, he's had an incredibly light (actually non-existent) homework load and once that picks up a bit, he may not enjoy the time with the skills trainer so much.

Sheldon: has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home! Can you believe it? He is very weak and has a long road ahead but you gotta give God all the glory when you look at what this little guy has been through. It's an incredible miracle. Look under Buller's Fave Links for Sheldon's Page and read about him and how his brother-in-law Andrew, answers some tough questions.

Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers!!