Originally Posted by
sweeterthan
warning heavy post, parent loss, car accident
30 years ago on january 18th, i was in a horrible car wreck with an ambulance (no sirens, no lights) that almost killed me. 3 weeks before my 14th birthday. i survived but my mother did not. i had to have facial reconstruction. it took 14 hours. my nose is made from my hip bone. my eye sockets were reconstructed with bone graphs from my skull. The first week i was on a ventilator and in and out of consciousness. Things quickly got better and i got to go home after being hospitalized for two weeks. i did recovery at home and missed 3 months of 8th grade. people in my life wanted me to just get over it and be a happy kid again. looking back as an adult, i can’t believe how many people pressured me into things i didn’t want to do and feelings i didn’t want to feel. i was forced to go to a mother’s day brunch at church without my mother. the minister of the church telling me i was being a brat and it was time to move on. my dad ignored the only psych evaluation i had after, insisting i would just get over it.
i’ve been powering thru on this one for fucking ever. i’ve never dealt with this event with a professional so on tuesday, the 30th anniversary of the accident, i’m starting therapy to maybe get some closure. I’m sure this isn’t the point of this thread but it has been at the forefront of my mind as i approach this huge anniversary. 30 years since i didn’t die and survived a head injury to the face. Sometimes it feels heavy and sometimes it feels triumphant. i’d really like for the next 30 anniversaries to feel triumphant.