Does He Remember?

August 2007



Unique thing that happened with Stephen today...

This afternoon my Mom, Grandma, and I took the boys to the Museum of Life and Science where we have a membership. While we were upstairs, they began to do a seat belt/crash test safety demonstration. I've seen this exhibit lots but never when someone was actually running it. It's basically a mini version of crash test dummies you see on TV. They put the little guy in a booster seat, strap him in a "car," and pull it up a mini-hill. On the count of 3, the seat flies down the hill and suddenly stops. It really is a neat demonstration to kids of how important wearing a seat beat is. You can't help but catch your breath when the little guy is unstrapped and bangs against the front of the "car" when it stops.

Anyhoo, since we'd never seen this in action before, Stephen and I walked over there. We went to the front and watched the lady strap the crash tummy in and motorize him up the hill. Everyone counted down, and he zoomed by us ending in a semi-loud crash.

As soon as it was over Stephen immediately turned to me and said, "I don't want to see that again." I was like okay, and we went to look at other things nearby. A couple minutes later, they began the demonstration again, and Stephen nearly panicked. He came to me again and said, "Where can I go, so I don't have to hear that again?" I immediately took him in the bathroom, and we shut the door til the crash was over.

Every time a new demonstration was done, I had to rush him to the bathroom or cover his ears. He was truly distraught over the whole thing. There was almost fear in his eyes. I asked him why he didn't like it, and he just said he didn't. I don't know what that means.

I write all this to say that I wonder if Stephen has memories of our car wreck back in 2007. He was only 16 months old at the time, but today definitely triggered something in him I have never seen before. Admittedly, seeing that little boy crash in that exhibit today made me sick to my stomach and brought tears to my eyes. Those sounds brought memories back to me, but I never dreamed my little 4 year old would have the same feelings.

Who knows what Stephen remembers and what today was all about for him. All I can do now is pray that he knows how much Daddy and Mommy love him and trust that he is beginning to understand God has a plan for everything, even the things in life that just don't seem fair. And today, more than 3 years later, I say thank you Father all over again. You did a miracle in our lives...we will never be the same!