Toyota Accident

Our son, Kyle, had an accident this year in March. He was coming home from a friend's place in the country, when an oncoming vehicle, who was possibly drunk or sleepy came in and out of Kyle's lane. To avoid the vehicle Kyle had slowed down and then swirved, but got his wheels caught on the edge of the payment, you know where the road drops down to meet the dirt. He lost control of his truck causing him to roll it 2 or 3 times finally landing on the passenger side. He was able to crawl out of his front window, which had come out, and walk away. He called a friend to take him home.

He came into our bedroom to tell us what happened. He was nervous and freaked out. Nervous cause his truck that we helped him get was probably totaled and freaked out that he wasn't hurt or killed. He gently tapped me on the shoulder as he was kneeling down next to our bed, like he did when he was little. I was shocked and gave him a little hit in the arm and said "Shhh, don't wake your dad." Such a strange thing to do but, of course, I didn't know the reason. I assumed it was girlfriend issues.

So, we did wake him and made sure Kyle was ok, sat up and talked awhile to make sure he didn't have any injuries. It seems careless now that we didn't rush him to the ER, but the boy was not visible injured AT ALL! We hardly believed it happened.

Kyle's friend was planning on riding home with him, but at the last minute decided to stay later. If he would've been in the truck...... well, you can imagine. As parents, the possiblity of involving someone elses child is just so painful to think about.

I never went to see the truck, our neighbor has a towing service and he took care of the tow in the morning and I called the insurance. The other driver never stopped, and so we had nothing more to deal with. This photo was only found today on another computer. It's a little difficult to see, but the roof is smashed in at least 3-5 inches. Kyle is a big kid and sits pretty tall in this truck, and we're just seeing the hand of God got him through this.

Kyle's been a very active dirt biker since he was 4, so we've seen alot of injuries and Dr visits, but this one hits hard. Oh, yes, his seatbelt was on. Toyota makes good stuff.... but the truck was 'totaled'

Our Neighborhood

The following is a story from our Local Newspaper. This young man is just 2 streets behind us, and he's an inspriation to us all. It doesn't matter what the weather is, you'll see Daniel walking and waving to everyone as he does his daily walk. The story doesn't mention, but he tries very hard to remember everyone's name and he likes to collect business cards. He's a sweet young man, and I hope you take a moment to share in his short story.


Turning lemons into lemonadeDaniel Coakley quenches the thirst and lifts the spirits of those in his Hanford neighborhood
By Heather Halseyhhalsey@HanfordSentinel.com
If life hands you lemons -- make lemonade, like Daniel Coakley has done for the last five summers.After he found out that his father, Joe, had a lemonade stand when he was a boy, Daniel started his own in 2005 and has been peddling lemonade and conversation ever since."It's fun," Daniel said. "I get to see my old friends."
The gregarious 20-year-old with Down syndrome sets up shop from Monday through Saturday at 3 p.m. on Easy Street in Hanford where he has no qualms about waving to a passing car or chatting up a neighbor or two.Liz Cleveland lives across the street from Daniel and routinely pops over for a quick chat and a cup of the sweet lemony drink that he makes from a powdered mix."We have a big jar of change that we keep for my grandkids when they come because they always want to come over here to Daniel's," Cleveland said.Just like any other shrewd businessman, Daniel has business cards to promote the stand that he made on a computer with the help of one of his seven siblings.He also keeps detailed records of his customer demographics and transactions, which show that last year he sold 43 cups of lemonade from May 27 to Oct. 29.While he runs the booth he frequently calls friends and acquaintances he's met at St. Brigid's Catholic Church to invite them over for some lemonade.He sells a large cup for 50 cents and charges 25 cents for a small or refills.The money he collects are mainly dimes and quarters, which he adds to a jar that electronically tallies the coins for him.On July 15 it was filled to the brim with coins, and the digital screen said he had $72.79, which Daniel said he probably won't spend on anything at all."He would do this for free just for the people that he meets," Joe Coakley said about his son.He said that Daniel gives a lot of his profits to church and to homeless people that he passes on the street when he makes his weekly treks to Blockbuster and back."At least half the people in town know him because he waves to everyone that passes," Joe Coakley said.It's evident that Daniel's business sense and wit never cease to amaze his father, who was surprised when he saw that his son had even dug up an old photograph of him when he was 8 years old serving lemonade in Mariposa.The Coakleys moved from Mariposa to Hanford in 1985 so that Joe could teach special education to students at Shelly Baird School while Daniel's mother, Kathy, home-schooled their eight children.When Daniel isn't sitting behind his lemonade stand he is often canvassing his neighborhood, knocking on doors to collect money for specific charities like he did last winter when he collected money for the Walk for Life in San Francisco."It's fun I got to see different cultures," Daniel said of the people he met while going door to door.Fundraising for charities is one way he works to accomplish his biggest goals, many of which are all listed in a notebook he keeps titled, "Daniel's Dream History."Of course one of the dreams he lists is to sell lemonade but he has more lofty goals, including creating homes for the homeless."I'd like to save my community," Daniel said.For now Daniel is spreading hope one cup at a time from 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, before he closes up shop and heads inside to eat dinner and watch two of his favorite TV shows -- "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune."

Connection

Today I realized a couple things as I was eating dinner with my 17 year old daughter. We were both thumbing through our fashion magazines, she her new "Seventeen" magazine, and I, my new Chadwick's catalog.
She was suggesting some cute stuff that I would like, and I suggested a few things out of her mag. What I realized is: We know each other really well. I agreed with her choices, and she with mine. WOW! This connection isn't very common in the teen years. Well, at least, we're told it's not, but it's something as parents we strive for. And when the moment hits, you don't want to make a big deal out of it, just let it happen. Too much excitement and you've scared them off, and then we're weird, again.
Of course, we were both just dreaming, because we're not big shoppers, but we do like to browse the mags and catalogs, and love to watch the Makeover, and 'What Not to Wear" shows. I can look through the same catalog over and over, and pretend I'll buy this dress for some special occasion, or that outfit if I worked at the bank..... I guess it's never too late to play pretend, at least I hope not. But for now, I just cherish those little moments.