Twenty Years of Gratitude - September 13, 1987-2007

Sunday, September 13, 1987. Around that time, Pete Schuurman and I were starting what we expected to be our final year of high school. On the afternoon of that date, we had just wrapped up a youth group leaders' retreat at my parents' cottage.

Later on, we were sick of packing and cleaning. So, the two of us decided to go for a drive. On an uphill curve in the gravel road, I applied the brakes too hard, locked them, "gravel-planed" ...and the car went airborne and slammed into (and through) the forest at around 60-80 km/h (40-50 mph).

The vast majority of the trees were small softwoods, which cushioned a lot of the impact. According to the police, had the car entered the forest just a few inches to the right or left one or both of us would have been dead on the scene -- from a hydro pole on the right, or the large hardwoods on the left just inside the forest edge.

We ended up about 20 or 30 metres/yards inside the forest. We're grateful that the property owner heard the crash, called 911, and arranged for help to arrive within minutes.

Pete and I were transported to a hospital in Lindsay (about 1/2 hour south). My dad picked me up at the hospital late that night. We very, _veeery_ quietly returned to the cottage to pick up my (and Pete's) belongings. Accidentally running over a family of raccoons on the blind side of a hill along the way sure didn't help either. >: P

Despite my severe concussion and other trauma at the time, I remember Dad asking me moments after he locked the cottage door, "Do you want to drive home?" Amazing grace.

(As you may be able to tell from the photo above, the car (a 1984 Dodge Aries) used to be in as-new condition. My dad bought it the previous spring at less than wholesale cost from a family-friend in our apartment building. It was a present of sorts for my mom, who had recently gone back to high school, and even finished a community college degree in chiropody (non-surgical foot care). Just a few months before, she'd started her dream job at a nursing home, and finally had a nice commuting-car to drive. So much for me being an overly-responsible eldest child. And, to make matters more awkward and painful, Mom was on holidays visiting family in Austria when this all happened. I'm glad we waited to tell her until she got back.)

As you also may be able to tell from the photo above, Pete's side bore the brunt of the impact (the rear window behind his seat was shattered - I punched it out in fear and frustration).

Pete recovered at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto for several months, with many broken bones and other injuries along the right side of his body. He worked through extensive physio for months afterwards.

It wasn't easy to watch friends graduate from Toronto District Christian High School and embark on new adventures as they moved into places of their own, continued with studies at university, and so on. We completed our last year of school together the following year (1988-89) at a local public high school.

Thanks be to God, our friendship continued and grew stronger. Despite the difficulties of the physical and emotional recovery, we experienced all sorts of support and encouragement from our church family locally, provincially, even internationally. Taking two years to finish high school also provided many amazing new opportunities to learn, serve, and grow--locally, provincially, even internationally. Looking back, it is not much of a surprise that we are so involved in church leadership today.



As I look through the photos, I ask myself, "Who is this kid?"

Certainly not the same person who raised a glass of gratitude last weekend with Pete, his wife Joy, and son -- born guess when?? -- _September 13_ last year. Wow. Joseph, you will some day understand the term "redemptive moment" and the extra-delight your parents and I experience wishing you Happy Birthday.

I've spent 20 years looking back...processing...wondering. Some of you know the details, some of you don't. Some of you have gone through similar situations, and God answered your prayers in ways that you are probably still processing...wondering about...hurt by.

My prayers are with you.

PS: One of Pete's recent books, co-authored with Peter Slofstra, is Follow Me: Daily Readings for Disciples. "First and Second Peter" were also cyclists and co-chaplains for the "Sea to Sea with the CRC" bike tour across Canada in 2005.

Considering the seriousness of Pete's injuries, I am all the more grateful that he has been able to flourish in ministries of various kinds, "serious" and "comical" -- ask him some time about his cartoons!

(PPS: Fear not - those blue shorts are long gone...the striped socks too! I sure wish I could get my teenage metabolism back, though...)