This past Friday, I was involved in a pretty rough accident on the freeway involving an aggressive driver and three other damaged cars. My memories are a bit spotty from about 5 minutes prior to the accident until waking up in the ambulance, but after seeing these pictures of our car, I can only say that I was blessed by some powerful divine intervention. To walk away from this with just mere cuts, bumps, and bruises is nothing short of a miracle. I'm very grateful to all our wonderful friends, coworkers, and family who have been reaching out to check in or offer help over the weekend.

As I was already in maintenance physical therapy prior to this, I had my first session today since the accident, and to be honest... I had a really hard time. It was rough. Going from strengthening and stability exercises to today's simple attempts to turn my head felt like such a monumental and discouraging setback, which will no doubt take a lot of time for me to move past, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.

My journey with my physical disabilities has been a long and difficult one, and only recently have I begun to start accepting my limitations for what they are without letting them define me. I have started listening to my body and trying to take care of it in the ways it requires. Working with my limitations rather than trying to be something I'm not has only proven to strengthen me and help me to live a life as close to "normal" as I can.

Harriet has been my guiding light through my limitations and struggles, giving me motivation and goals and purpose and drive on every day when I feel like the pain is too much to handle. I have never felt like the pain was too much while in the saddle. The Before and After may be brutal, but During The Ride is a special escape, and I am beyond lucky to have such a special partner in my little NightMare.

Moving forward from this weekend is going to be difficult, and I will definitely be relying on so many people to help get myself back on track... but in the end, I know it will all be worth it.