Saturday, August 23, 2008

Best Wishes!!

Last week Jake's cousin, Stephanie, and her husband Christian, were in a terrible plane crash. Christian had been taking flying lessons for 2 years and they were out with an experienced instructor. The plane failed after take-off and crashed, full of fuel. The instructor lost his life (he was a young father and husband) and Stephanie and Christian sustained severe injuries. Christian had 3rd degree burns coving about 1/2 of his body and Stephanie sustained 3rd degree burns over almost her entire body...including her face, hands and arms. They are a young couple with 4 children aged almost identically to my own. This experience has caused Jake and I to re-evaluate our blessings. Today there was a fundraising balloon launch in honor of Stephanie here in Provo. It was a tradition of hers to launch balloons on special occasions, which made this a special event to think of her.
The kids were excited to be able to see all of the balloons and take part in the big balloon launch. Then we sat in the grass and watched the balloons float away. The turn out for the event was much bigger than the organizers had anticipated and I am sure that Stephanie would have been touched by the support of so many loved ones. I am also sure that the event helped to raise a lot of money to help with their recovery.
This sad event in the Clark family has caused me to find gratitude for the simple mundane things I am able to do on a daily basis; my own laundry, cook food, care for my children, drive the car, chat with my husband in the evenings...even shower and brush my teeth!!! I wish Stephanie and Christian a quick recovery and I wish their children lots of love while mom and dad get better!!

3 comments:

Shanna Nemrow said...

My heart goes out to Stephanie and Christian. They will be in our thoughts and prayers. It really is a reminder to be thankful for all blessings.

jen said...

What a sad thing to happen. It really makes you think about your priorities and what is really important and how quickly it can all be taken from you! Hope they have a speedy recovery.

Audrey said...

Oh my gosh Ash! I have been following Nie Nie for over a year now and had no clue you were related! Makes sense now with the maiden name Clark!
My heart goes out to her and her family!
She seems like one of the neatest most creative people ever! (through her blog of course)
When this happened my heart just broke! I didn't realize she was burnt so badly. Know that she is in my thoughts and prayers!