Sweet Dinda

This past summer I was at a workshop with my 2 co-6th ELA teaching buddies, Chad Hammonds, and Linda Baird. It was one of those annoying workshops where the presenter pretends we are students and makes us do collaborative activities, when really we would rather just be at home, or sleeping. Anyway, the presenter was using me as an example and said, "what is your name" and I said "Sarah" (duh.). Well she thought I said "Darah" and so she started calling me "Darah". Well my two teaching buddies and I thought this was hilarious, and we just could not stop laughing about it. In fact, from that point on they started calling me "Darah", and I now call them "Dad" and "Dinda". I have a really fun relationship with Dad and Dinda, and love them both dearly. We are constantly laughing, mostly due to Linda and her hilarious stories. I have worked with Linda ever since I got my job at BMS in January of 2007, and she has been an incredible mentor and encouragement to me over the past 4 years.

On Wednesday of this past week, Linda was in a horrible car accident. From what we can figure out, Linda had just dropped off her granddaughter at pitching practice and was heading home on a winding country road in Belton. Linda had called her husband prior to taking her granddaughter to practice and told him that she had been throwing up, and was not sure she could take her. He told her not to worry about it, and that he would take her whenever he got home from work, that she could just be "a little late". Well, I suppose Linda decided she could take her, and then her husband could pick her up when it was over. From this point, we don't know what caused the accident, but Linda hit a guardrail on a bridge, her car flipped off of the bridge, fell 40 feet, flipped upside down, and caught on fire. I have posted several links to articles and video clips on my facebook if you want to read about it. Thankfully, a "good Samaritan" as we are calling him saw the damage and realized Linda had flipped off of the bridge. He raced down the 40 feet and with the help of some other passersby, he got Linda out of her car right before it burst into flames.

Linda is alive, in stable, but very critical condition in the ICU. She broke most of her ribs, had a collapsed lung, fractured both ankles (through the skin), has multiple fractures in her legs and hips, her pelvis is all out of whack (in traction at the moment) and has burns on her face and her left arm. It is an absolute miracle that she is alive, and that as far as we know, she has no brain injuries!

Linda is "that teacher". You know, the one that has taught for 30 years, and everybody knows. When I went to the emergency room on the day of the accident, there were probably close to 20 people from the district alone. We are all heartbroken for her and her family, but also very thankful she is alive.

I went to see her yesterday. She is under sedation, so is not conscious. It was really hard on me to see her like that. She doesn't look like Linda. It is hard for me to think of her and not start crying. It is also hard for me to think of much else, until I know she is ok. I am looking forward to the day when she is awake so that I can talk to her again, and show her her students TAKS scores, and show her Makenna's pictures we took today, and show her everything about Makenna's upcoming birthday party, because she has always loved that "sweet baby" as she calls her. I just miss talking to her, and unfortunately, it might be awhile longer before I can talk to her again. (But, at least I will get to again, Praise God for saving her life!)

Please pray for Linda! Pray that her daughter is able to come to the Lord through this whole ordeal. We are hoping this might be one of the many outcomes of this horrible ordeal.

Dear Sweet Dinda,

It has been 3 days since your accident. It seems like it has been a lot longer to me. I miss talking to you so much. I am so thankful that I got to see you on Wednesday when we were turning in our TAKS buckets, because I hadn't gotten to see you all week! I have offered to take a certain student out of your 2nd period class, so that Mrs. Zendt doesn't have to deal with him while you are gone. After all, it is the least I could do after they switched my troublesome student into your class last week. :) I just want you to know that I am praying for you every moment. It absolutely breaks my heart to think of how much you are suffering. I just can't even handle thinking about it. I am so sorry you are having to go through this. You are a strong woman, and I know you will make it through this, and have another story to add to your already ginormous story collection! I can't wait until I get to talk with you about everything. I just can't wait for you to be ok. Really, what I want to say is, "you didn't have to drive off of a bridge to get out of the last month of school!" If you could hear me, I know you'd be laughing. I'm praying for you sweet friend, and I am looking forward to when I can show you this letter.

Love,
Darah