A Day to Never Forget - April 9th, 2014

If you have ever dropped your child off at daycare, you know how chaotic it can be.  The rush to sign your child in, say your goodbyes, get your hug and kiss before you see them again at the end of the day.  Or the very sweet delay of your child asking for one last kiss before you hurry off to work.  It is a chaos, but a very comforting chaos, as this is our daily routine.  But now, that daily routine will no longer be quite the same.  Right now, it is hard for me to imagine a time when I will say my goodbye again without an ounce of thought about the day that car came crashing into Grace's daycare.

This is Grace's class outside when the accident occurred

This was a very freak accident that could have happened anywhere and nobody ever thinks for a minute that it will happen to them.  But, it did happen and has definitely left a permanent scar on our family, as well as many others.  The children that witnessed the tragic event do remember what they saw, even if they are too young to comprehend it all.  Also, the teachers... these are the ones that spend their day teaching and loving up on our children.  They kiss their boo-boos and wipe their noses while we are at work.  These children are an extension to their own families and the teachers also have become an extension of our family.  I can't even imagine witnessing what they had to witness these young children go through.  I am so grateful each and every day for them.  They do so much for our little ones and especially on that day, they were there for our kids more than ever.  They kept them calm, performed CPR, comforted the parents (even when they themselves needed comforting), and I could go on and on.

Grace's teacher that held Grace up for me;
clearly very distraught after the incident being
consoled by her husband

Another of Grace's teachers was visibly affected emotionally

Last Wednesday I was headed like any other day to pick up Grace from daycare.  I left work at about 3pm.  As I got closer to her daycare around 3:40, I saw several helicopters circling overhead.  So I called Garrett to see if he could go online and see what was going on (he was still at work).  I then approached the back entrance of the daycare as usual because Grace is usually outside playing about that time and I like to get a peak of her.  When I drove around the back, there was caution tape and a police car there to stop me.  A woman ran to my car asking if I was a parent and said there was an accident.  Not knowing the measure of the accident because I was on the opposite side of the building still, I calmly (anxious on the inside) walked up to the officer to see if I could go around front to get my girl.  He politely said "no ma'am, you are going to have to go across the street with all of the other parents and wait there for more information."  That was all I was told.  I was starting to freak out on the inside, but still tried to remain calm.  At that point, one of her teachers saw my Jeep and immediately held sweet Grace up for me to see her and at that moment, I felt a sigh of relief that at least my child was okay and they were taking care of her.  I could not see anything else and started to drive around to the other side of the building.  While I was headed over there, I called Garrett back and he told me that he was fortunate enough to get through and talk to the assistant director, who assured him that Grace was fine.  At this point, all we knew about the incident is that a car had gone through the center and several children had been taken to the hospital.

Helicopter view just after the crash

Front road (Goldenrod) to her school, completely closed down

Grace's class waiting while the FHP investigate the scene;
This is where Grace was when I pulled around back
and her teacher held her up for me to see.

After seeing Grace, I went across the street and waited with the other parents, many in tears, many in shock, several asking questions... checking the news for updates.  Time felt like it was at a standstill.  Then one of the deputies came over after about an hour.  She explained the situation.  They took all our names and phone numbers, as well as the names of our children.  At that point, they went back over to the center and started taking attendance of the children that were still at the center and of those that had been taken to the hospital.  Meanwhile, Mayor Jacobs came over and said a prayer with all of us parents, as we waited word of our children.  After a couple hours of waiting and watching the chaos unfold, they separated all of us parents into groups.  They first took the group of parents whose children were injured and those that were taken to the hospital.  Then they took the remaining of us back across the street.  

Talking to Garrett on the phone while he was headed to meet me

Parents waiting and trying to get some answers

Some of the KinderCare faculty and staff

Group of parents being escorted to the center

One by one they brought our children out and put them in our arms.  The moment that Grace reached out for me from the officers arms was the happiest moment for me and I just hugged her tighter than ever.  As we were walking away, we then saw her best school friend come out and again, a huge sigh of relief fell over me.  However, the same was not to be said for many families.  All in all there were 11 children and 1 adult sent to the hospital and one child lost her life.

Such a happy moment to have our sweet Grace, but still in shock

Talking to the officer after we received Grace

One of Grace's classmates is okay, but unfortunately
his sister had to be taken to the hospital

Grace's best school friend... happy to see her well

The sweet girl that lost her life got picked up from school about the same time every day as Grace and I can still vividly picture Lily's sweet smile and long beautiful hair.  She made it a point to hug all of her teachers (present and past) before leaving every day.  One of Grace's classmate's older sister was taken to the hospital, but luckily was released the next day with minor injuries.  Another of Grace's friends, Jamie, was taken to the hospital with a split kidney and terrible rug burn from being dragged.  We got to visit her Sunday and take her a gift at the hospital.  She is recovering well and is now back home with her family after several days in the hospital.  Another little girl that was in Grace's class for part of the day was June.  Grace just got moved up to twos as she had just gotten moved up to threes... so they were splitting their time in the rooms to help with the transition.  June would open the doors for me and greet me with a big smile when I arrived to get Grace.  She is so very sweet and pretty.  She is still in critical condition at the hospital with critical brain damage and my heart just breaks for her.  While at the hospital, we did get word that she for the first time since the accident started to breath on her own and wiggled her toes.  She is continually in our prayers.  These are just the few children that we had everyday contact with and that really hit close to home with our family.  However, do not get my wrong, our thoughts and prayers are with every child, family, and teacher at that center.

Sweet Lilly will always be remembered

Happy Lily

June always donned this precious smile when I saw her

June is still in our prayers

Friday evening they held a memorial/grieving event for all of the Goldenrod KinderCare families.  Garrett, Grace, and I attended this event and it was probably the best thing that the daycare could have done for the families and teachers.  The children got to see some of their friends, as well as their teachers, that they had not seen since the accident.  The parents got to be there for one another.  After talking to several of the parents, it was evident that this was the first time for many of them, that they had seen their children acting their normal selves and having fun.  There were tables set up in the room to decorate cards for their friends, play clothes to dress up as princesses and superheros (that would've been the theme for that day at the center), tattoos and stickers for the children to wear, legos and blocks to play with, and they also had a journal for us to write a sweet message to Lily (the young girl that tragically lost her life).

Just some of the cards from the memorial event

Table with Lily's Journal

The entire string of events all happened for a reason and I do believe God has his hand in everything.  Just the fact that Grace's teacher saw me and could show me Grace during all the chaos, Garrett was able to get through to the center and get confirmation that she was fine, God was definitely looking out for us.  Also, one of Grace's friends Madi got to school that morning, but complained that she wasn't feeling well, so her mom took her back home for the day.  Because Madi was not there, another little girl sat in her seat at snack time, and at that time, the car came crashing in.  Had Chloe been sitting in her normal seat, she would've received the brunt of the impact from the car.  Another little boy also stayed home for the day because he was not feeling well and he too would've been in that classroom.  Also, the center bus that is usually parked just in front of where the gaping hole now resides on the building happened to be loaned to another center for the day... had it been there, who knows what would've happened, but the accident may not have been so tragic.  Ultimately, the accident did happen and we are all coping with it in our own ways and trying to get back to a so-called "normal" routine.

Two other local KinderCares are taking in the children affected by this event and they are also using some of our teachers.  I was so happy to hear that Grace's favorite teacher (from the time she was an infant) is now at the same center with her.  Her dear friend, Bella, and a few others are also there and in her class.  This should hopefully make her feel as much at home as possible.  When I walked into the center for the first time, they had made personalized welcome signs for every one of the Goldenrod children that they are watching and also had a large sign from their family to ours saying that they are thinking about us.  They also have grief counselors on hand all week for the children and parents.  These small gestures, leave a big impact on us and make me feel just that much better about leaving our sweet girl with them.

Great welcoming from the new center

Grace's welcome sign

It may take some time for us all to get back into the norm and used to everything again, but it definitely wouldn't be the same without the love of our friends, family, and the KinderCare family.  I couldn't be more thankful for all the people in our lives that have been there for us and the other families through all of this.  Again, also so thankful for the teachers that were impacted just as much as the children, but still come into work and wear their smiles and make our children happy and comfortable.  I don't know what I'd do without y'all too!!  Please continue to pray for all affected by this.