Believe Indeed

I have such amazing friends. Some of you may recall me telling you about my friend Vicki, who was hit head-on by a fast-moving cyclist in Mission Bay. She was rushed to the hospital bloody, broken and unconscious. The guy on the bike suffered a broken neck. Yesterday we got together for a charity walk with another friend, Tara, at Miramar Lake. (That’s them in the photo above.)
Vicki caught us up on her 30th wedding anniversary, son’s college graduation and daughter’s wedding, all of which occurred about six weeks after her accident. I kept thinking: I can’t believe this is the same woman I saw on Mother’s Day with broken bones and a bruised face and brain. I learned a little about the tribulations of healing from a serious head trauma, and how mysterious memory can be. We all agreed it's a blessing that she has no recollection of the collision or its immediate aftermath.
Not only is Vicki back to her ol’ self, but she’s running again -- impressively long distances. She’s planning to return to train for next year’s marathon, too.
The run/walk we did yesterday was for a girl in Scripps Ranch undergoing cancer treatment and the namesake of Believe in Taylor. It occurred to me only today that Vicki and Taylor have much in common, since both are defying the odds and showing that major illness and injuries maybe bring you uncomfortably closer to death but also remind all of us that life is great.

Rolly Roup took the bottom photo of Vicki and me. Thanks, Rolly!