At the ripe age of THREE, Ty was in his first car accident for which he was ENTIRELY responsible.

Friday nights are family nights and we usually all gather at Papa’s and Sweetie’s or Aunt Beck’s.?? Last night we were laughing about the line in “Fools Rush In” – all their family is gathered and one member say’s (much to Matt Perry’s amazement) “looks like not everyone could make it tonight” :).?? Last night’s family list was: Papa, Sweetie, Grammy, Uncle Dave, Aunt Beck, Jamie, Jarrod, Jenna, Rhonda, Greg, Macayla, a friend of Jamie’s, Aviel, Jim, Doni, Tanner, Ty, Daniel, Brooke, Noah, Graham, Braxytn, David, Aimee, Zandi, Zane, Darin, Jodi, Karsyn, Dustin, Michelle, Rob and Cat = Total – 33 of us at mom’s.

I post that list to offer explanation as to how easy it is to lose one’s child at these family gatherings.

The kids were scattered all over and after a bit, I realized I didn’t know where Ty was.?? I looked outside and couldn’t find him.?? Looked inside and couldn’t find him.?? Started asking everyone if they had seen him – no one had.?? Uh oh.??

All of a sudden, Sweetie screams “HE IS IN THE GOLF CART” – (she could see him out the window from the dining room).?? She throws her coke down and starts running with me at her heels.

When we got outside, there was a huge crash.?? David and Greg were already running for him.?? The key had been left in the golf cart and Ty turned the cart on, put it in reverse and put the pedal to the metal.?? In doing so, he slammed into Michelle’s car.?? The picture below is a later recreation by Papa.

Ty actually put a dent in her bumper and scratched her car so we now owe Michelle for damages.

The worst thing about this accident though is what you DO NOT see in??the above??picture.??

The accident occurred in front of that large green bush in this picture.?? If you’ll notice, there is a ravine on the left there.?? That ravine is much deeper and steeper than it looks from this picture.?? It goes down about 15 feet!!!!?? Had Ty turned the steering wheel left as opposed to right, he would have backed the golf cart right over the ledge.?? THAT is what had me in hysterics (and?? everyone else).?? As it was, his??front driver side tire was dangerously close to the edge.?? Thank the Lord that someone got to him before he threw the car into forward or he would have gone head first over the edge.

Uncle David reached him first.?? He grabbed Ty, threw him out of the cart and hollered to high heaven at him (which is very unlike David).?? I was so grateful because first person on that scene needed to make an impression on the little menace.?? I had the words shocked right out of me.?? I marched him into Sweetie’s bedroom and delivered appropriate consequences swiftly.?? Then he walked out happy as a fat cat and I stayed in the room and cried.?? Later I learned that Brooke and Jodi were guessing that Ty would get “over it” in typical Ty fashion within minutes and mommy would be hysterical for hours.?? If they were betting women, they could have profited off that.

I still don’t feel “over it” and I have no sense of security that he wouldn’t try it again.?? You can bet though, that I will be inspecting the golf cart for the key from now on.?? Is it always going to be like this with this little hooligan??????????????? How will I survive it??????

Edit:?? Tonight (Sat night) when Ty said his good night prayers he added – ALL ON HIS OWN – “thank you for Zandi and for me to not drive the golf cart again”.???? Maybe something stuck with him after all?????? 🙂 🙂