A BLOG JOG (and the shock of my life!)

Today I was browsing some blogs that I had neglected for a long time and I came across an entry that was written by a young blogger back in December.  In it he writes how he had been hit by a car on the way to a friend's house following the death of his pet.  He didn't think he was hurt too bad and told the driver not to worry, but later his legs and head hurt.  That was in December, and the young blogger recovered fine.  But he never told his parents because he was afraid they would freak out if they found out.

And we did!

I read Art's entry this morning with tears streaming down my face.  Why didn't he tell us?  I remember that night.  I had picked him up from his friend's house.  He said his legs hurt and he had a head ache.  It was a cold snowy night.  I told him to soak in the hot tub and we gave him some Tylenol before he went to bed.  I had no idea what my baby had been through. 

It took every ounce of restraint to keep from driving to the school to bring him home this morning.  The accident had happened almost 2 months ago, he was obviously alright, and yet I wanted to see for myself.  And I wanted to know why he hadn't told us.   Today was one of the longest days of my life.

When Art finally came home, I was very calm as I had him explain the incident.  Then I tried to explain to him why it was so important that he let his father and I know when something like that happens, even if he thinks its no big deal.  You just never know.  I still can't believe that the driver and the witness let him go without trying to contact his parents.

Steve was not so calm.  He didn't have all day to get used to the idea, to reason with his thoughts.  We just sprung it on him when he got in from work.  Needless to say, he reacted the very way Art knew he would, which was why he hadn't told us in the first place.

So here we are at a 3 way stop.  There's the stubborn teenager who has all the wisdom of his young years, trying to make decisions that are beyond him, the protective fatherwho really does know whats best for his son but sometimes has a hard time putting it in to words, and the peacekeeper mother driven by blind loyalty who finds herself jumping in the middle to defend both sides and often comes out the two way loser.

Art greatly under-estimated the severity of the incident.  Steve over-reacted in his accusations after the fact, and I feel like a traitor because for the entire day I anxiously waited for Art to come home so I could give him my little lecture only to fuss when Steve attempted to give a lecture of his own which was not to my liking.  Then I spent the next hour first trying to defend Art's actions to his father, and then defending Steve's words to his son. 

So Art is mad at his dad, Steve is mad at Art and is giving me the cold shoulder.  As for me, I am still in shock because my son was hit by a car in December and I never knew about it until today.  This so easily could have had a worse ending back then on that snowy day and despite the tension in the house tonight, I am thankful, so very thankful that we are all safe and sound within the walls of our home.

How I wish Gabe was safe at home as well.