What’s Love Got to Do With an Accident?

The love doves compelled me to write this story. The past couple of days I’ve seen them many times outside my office window, side by side, nestled in the grass by the ginger plants or on the patio, fence or second story windowsill of my neighbor’s house.

Suddenly it came to me. The love doves are telling me to write about all the love in the air following the accident of my daughter and her boyfriend in Thailand during their vacation.

Following that revelation, the song “Love is in the Air” quickly entered my mind.

I found a video for you with the song and lyrics as well as meaningful pictures:

Did you watch it?

Don’t you just love the melody and lyrics?

I’ve been receiving love and care the past couple of days from people who are concerned about how I’m doing. And I’m amazed at that, because I’m not the one in distress. It’s my daughter and her boyfriend who are in a hospital in Krabi, Thailand.

Here’s the story…

After spending Saturday night having fun with friends Debbie and Ray, Brian and I returned home and went to bed. I was sleeping soundly when our phone rang and aroused me. Brian answered, wondering who was calling so late at night. He was told by someone at the U. S. Embassy that Natalie is OK and that she’ll be calling us.

Minutes passed while we anxiously waited. We hadn’t heard from Natalie in many days, but I expected that she was too busy having fun with Dan on their 3 week vacation to Hong Kong and Thailand. This vacation was Natalie’s reward to herself for completing Oriental medicine school and to de-stress from her many years of intense studying.

I’d say she deserves this reward, wouldn’t you?

She wanted and needed a long, relaxing vacation, even though she has huge loans to repay for her expensive education to learn acupuncture, Chinese herbs, anatomy, nutrition and much more.

And there are more expenses yet to be paid for licensing. She has to wait until the licensing exams are given and then pass them before she can practice acupuncture. So there will be more stress studying for the exams.

Dan has already been licensed as an acupuncturist for over 2 years, but still has huge school loans to repay. And it takes time to build up a practice.

Why did they choose Thailand for their vacation?

Friendly people, relaxed lifestyle and very low cost of living beckoned them. Some days ago Natalie sent us an entertaining email about getting one hour massages for five dollars and having their feet cleaned by fishes in water on one of Thailand’s beautiful islands. I was ready to start packing my bags to go there! But I’ve got to get a passport first!

Prior to flying to Thailand, they stayed with Natalie’s friend in Hong Kong for 5 days and had a wonderful time.

Now let’s get back to the story…waiting for Natalie’s call…

Finally the phone rang. Natalie was crying, so it was difficult to understand all that she said. But I clearly understood that she and Dan were in a bad accident in which they could have been killed. They were on a motor scooter on an island when the accident occurred.

She told me that Dan was in the only hospital in Krabi following surgery on his knee for a compound patellar fracture with 20% loss of the patella (knee cap).  He had to wait in pain (probably very severe pain) for ten hours and travel over bumpy roads with a dirty wound exposing the bone of his knee before he received treatment at the hospital on the mainland of Thailand. With his wound dirty for so long there’s a high risk of infection.

Alone and frustrated after being driven around in a taxi and unable to find Internet access, Natalie was crying on the sidewalk when a woman handed her a cell phone to call the U. S. Embassy.  This kind act by that angel woman led to the late night call to us.

The doctor said Dan would need to remain in the hospital for 7 days. With their flight to return home scheduled for Friday they were very uncertain if they would be able to fly then. She wanted someone to come be with her in Thailand because she was feeling so alone, so far away from home. In Krabi they speak very little English, and Natalie doesn’t speak their language, so that’s another challenge.

She asked me to call Dan’s parents and his friend. And then she asked me to go into her email account and send an email to her friends asking for their good energy and prayers to help Dan. She said she’d try to get a prepaid cell phone so she could call again.

After hanging up the phone in the middle of the night, I left voice mail messages for Dan’s parents.

Then I created the email about what had happened to Natalie and Dan. I wanted the emails to be opened ASAP, so the subject line was: Dan had surgery in Thailand…bad accident.

Would that subject line cause you to immediately open an email from a friend?

Wide awake, I returned to my bed. Of course, I couldn’t sleep. All I could do was ask for Divine help for Dan and Natalie, over and over again.

Maybe an hour or so later our phone rang again. Natalie was calling from the prepaid cell phone she bought after receiving advice from the U. S. Embassy about where to get one.

She was no longer crying, but still upset, as you might imagine. Then we were disconnected and again I waited for her call. It was a long wait, but finally she called again. Afterward I again tried to sleep and eventually succeeded I know because I was awakened by the phone ringing.

This time it was Dan’s mom who had anxiously and considerately waited to call at an hour that she felt was not too early on a Sunday morning.

Yesterday I spent lots of time on the phone talking to Dan’s parents and friends of Natalie and Dan. When I checked Natalie’s email account, I saw many replies to the email I’d sent about the accident. I felt a little weird about opening any of her emails, but felt compelled to open some of them from people whom I know.

And what beautiful messages they were, full of love for Natalie. I’m still feeling that love I felt when I read them. That’s why the love doves keep appearing outside my window. When I realized their message I thought of that old song, ‘Love is in the Air’ and knew that I had to tell you this story.

Love is all around. Be more aware. Look and listen for it, especially when tragedy strikes. And accept the love of others.

I love it when I can help someone, don’t you?

So, with that said, don’t you think it’s important that you allow others to help you?

Think about that when you’re in distress.

Now that I’ve finished telling the story of the love doves, they’re nowhere in sight outside my window. But now there’s a squirrel eagerly eating birdseed on the patio. I’m wondering what his message is for me.  Maybe “Thank you for the food.”

And that reminds me. I have another story related to Natalie and Dan’s accident, and it’s about gratitude.

Till next time…

Wishing you peace, love and happiness,

Joyce Marie
Songwriter and singer
Founder, LessonsFromLyrics.com

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