We are going over some multiplication rules in Mr. Smith's class when his phone rings. He tells us to work on the problems he has written on the huge dry erase board in front of the classroom. I try to focus on that rather than the phone ringing since I am still worried about my dad. Why is he not waking up?

"Andrea, it's for you."

My heart skips a beat as I go to get up out of my green chair and walk towards the back wall of the classroom where the phone hangs. My voice kind of shakes as I answer, "Hello?"

"Pookie, it's me! He's awake!"

"Really!" I yell so loud everyone looks back to see what is going on. I didn't mean to be that loud. "When can I come back and see him? Does this mean Y'all are coming home?"

"Maybe this weekend," Mom answers back. It won't be too much longer since it is Wednesday, but I am going to have to stay with David and Dana for a while longer since I am not sure how long he is going to be in the hospital.

Trying to hide my disappointment of not being able to stay with Mama now that Daddy is awake, I say, "Okay. Can I talk to him?"

"They are running some tests on him now, but I will call you later, and you can talk to him then."

"Mama, I miss you. I love you. Call back soon, okay?"

"I will, Pookie, I promise."

I hang up the phone and skip to my seat with a huge smile on my face. My dad is going to make it. He is not going to die.

Dana picks me up from school and I run to the vehicle and climb in. "My mom called, and he woke up. Can we go see him, please?"

"She called David too," Dana replies, "He wants to wait to give the doctors time to run tests and all before we go. We can go as soon as your mom calls and lets us know what the test show."

****

Although my dad woke up, he had to relearn how to walk again, and for a while, he didn't know where he was or that he had a family outside of his parents and brother. His neck was broken, so they had to attach a halo to his neck and forehead to protect him from moving his neck the wrong way and completely paralyzing himself.

One day, when I was on the way to go visit my dad at the rehabilitation facility, the kids teased me because I left early during a louse check day. I was leaving to go visit my dad in Charleston, South Carolina, but those kids wanted to believe it was due to me having lice.

Since then I almost lost my brother due to a four-wheeler accident when I was twelve and when I thirteen my stepdad passed away.Recently, about three years ago, I almost lost my husband in an accident.

The fear of death never goes away. It is learning how to live life, so when death happens there are fewer regrets because everything happens so fast. That is what matters.