Oh Minivan, How I Wish You Hadn't Run My Husband Over

Just over a week ago I was lying on the couch feeding Noah, waiting for Greg to be home. It was one of the first weeknights I had been home since summer school had started and I was counting down the days until our summer, our freedom, would finally begin. When I finished feeding Noah, I grabbed my phone and I had 4 messages. The first was from Greg telling me he was just leaving work. The next one was from Greg telling me he was going to ride home, but why couldn't he get a hold of me. The third one was from Greg and it went like this ..."Jules, its me. I don't know why I can't get a hold of you, uh...I was just hit by a car. I'm lying on the street at 39th and Folsom. I think I broke my wrist and they called 911...the paramedics are coming." That was so not the message I was expecting or wanting to hear!


Greg was hit by a minivan while riding his bike home from work on Thursday evening. He was in the ER most of the night and then spent the next day in the hospital. He broke his right wrist and his left clavicle, which means he can't do too much. He's going to be having surgery on his shoulder on Monday and he has a pretty blue cast on his right arm. Both injuries are going to take about 6-8 weeks of recovery, plus physical therapy.

At first I was okay ...I postponed my crim pro exam, but knew the longer it was postponed, the less likely it would be that I would retain any of the information I had learned in the class. I never expected to have to take care of both Noah and Greg in a similar way, and I'm sure its no fun for Greg to need my help in doing everything.

The woman who hit Greg is a nurse at UCDavis where they took Greg. She was very upset by the whole thing, but the more I think about her, the angrier I become. I know she didn't hit him on purpose, I don't think she's a horrible person, but she's up and moving and probably hugging her kids and her husband. She's probably working and still driving around.

I'm upset that the first free time, otherwise known as "time without law school", that Greg and I were going to have together since before having Noah is now going to be spent with Greg's arms strapped to his chest or in casts. I know that we'll be okay, we have tons of help and support, another bonus of living this close to your family, but its still annoying.

I'm mostly sad because Greg can't hold Noah...he can't feel how strong Noah's legs are getting when he pulls himself up on you and jumps up and down. He is missing feeling how much more hair Noah is getting on his head and how sharp his little baby teeth are (not that that is a bad thing, because those things are like miniature daggers and should be sold on the black market to ninjas or something). He can't have Noah give him high fives, which is his latest thing...he's missing bath time, tickle time, diaper time, everything!

I know in the grand scheme of things, it could be much much worse, but that doesn't matter to me right now. What matters is that I'm missing my husband and my husband is missing 6-8 weeks of holding his 9 month-old son. That's a long time in babyland. Noah will be 10 1/2 months by the time Greg is able to really hold Noah again. Noah is taking up half of me, by the time Greg is able to throw him up in the air, Noah might be the size of Greg!

Words can't explain how grateful I am that his injuries weren't more serious because my world and my life are so much better with Greg in it. Thank god for bike helmets!