If you're reading this and you haven't had the privilege of meeting my mother, I feel sorry for you.

She's always smiling and laughing. She's smart in many ways, but she's mostly "street smart." She says this is because she graduated from "the school of hard knocks." She sniffles unconsciously every minute or so, which makes finding her in a crowded place really easy. She is a morning person. She cuts and dyes her hair *a lot.* She denies this, but her hairdresser and I know it's true. She took dance and piano lessons for years, and she's still pretty great at both. She has one of the most beautiful singing voices you'll ever hear, at least I think so.

And she hums a lot. People love how she hums all the time. She has probably always hummed, and I probably would've noticed it anyway as I got older.

But I really notice it now.

What would I have done without her humming?

Ten years ago, my family came too close to finding out.

Ten years ago, I was ten.

Ten years ago, I was in the fifth grade.

Ten years ago, after I got home from school, my mom wasn't answering my phone calls. She wouldn't pick up and she wouldn't pick up and she wouldn't pick up and she wouldn't pick up.

She always answered my phone calls.

Then, the phone rang. It had to be Mom, right?

No, it was Dad. In the middle of the day, when he was out of town? This didn't make any sense to my older brother and me.

Mom had been in an accident.

Mom had been in an accident.

Mom had been in an accident.

An impaired driver had hit her head on during a high-speed police chase through our little town. She was just trying to get home to us, but instead this man had hurt her and sent her to the hospital.

The next week was a blur. But some things are clear.

My neighbors were there. My pastor was there. My Memaw was there. My Aunt Wendy was there. My Uncle Mark was there. My mom's best friends were there. My teachers were there. My brother's teachers were there. My church family was there.

If you were there, thank you.

And right after the accident, God was there. And His angels were there. And an earthly angel names Ken was there. And the earthly angels in the form of EMTs were there.

If you were there, thank you.

My mom's friend took her kids and me to see the new Santa Clause 3 movie in theaters. She was there. Thank you, Alicia.

She brought me home to find some of our closest family friends standing at the bottom of our steps, looking up. They were there. Thank you.

I followed their gazes up our six stairs and saw my mom, standing in a neck brace and an arm cast, in a nightgown, waiting for me.

She was there. Home.

Thank you to everyone who was there in the days during and following that intensely bittersweet time in our family's lives. To everyone who sent a card, cooked a meal, drew a smile, gave a hug, cleaned a dish...we remember. And we thank you. Ten years later, now perhaps more than ever, we thank you.

If you were there, thank you. You were, and always will be, our "great cloud of witnesses."

Now, a word of advice. Don't ever get out of your parent's vehicle angry. Say "I love you" even if you're mad. Hug your momma every chance you get, then hug her again ten minutes later. Don't take one single day, hour, minute or breath for granted. Trust me, I've seen just how fleeting life is.

Because I was there.