Mother injured in car wreck

I think she's going to be all right. But she doesn't need to drive long distances alone anymore. With the number of minor accidents she has had on a regular basis, she was already nearly uninsurable.

She ran off the road after falling asleep within the city limits of the metropolis of Big Sandy, Texas, 15 miles south of Gilmer yesterday about 3:30 p.m. I got there around 4 and she was still in the driver's seat of her totaled mid-sized Mercury car.

She was returning from a funeral for Dorothea McGrath, a former co-worker at the Dallas News. She said she had not gotten enough sleep the night before.

Her car hit a pecan tree about 10 feet from someone's front door.. She told me as she woke up she panicked and hit the accelerator rather than the brakes. The airbag did NOT deploy on her side but did on the passenger side. She apparently has no broken bones, but the doctor detected an irregular heartbeat, so she was admitted to the hospital here in Gilmer overnight. She seemed almost insulted after the x-rays when they told her she had thin bones due to osteoporosis.

I come away from every incident like this realizing how fragile life is and am reminded of the message from beyond I felt in my spirit when I was nearly killed in Nov. 2003 that all we can take with us from this life is the love we have shown for others.