My wife and kids were nearly my "lets not meet" story

This happened back in 2010. I was deployed with my ship and wasn't allowed to go home until the deployment was over. Christmas was hard, my kids (ages 4 and 6 at the time) were heart broken I couldn't be there and my wife was too. The week after Christmas my wife was in a terrible car accident. A kid on his phone didn't stop and slammed into her car. She broke her neck in three places and at one point it was touch and go for a while. <br><br>She had 3 surgeries and spent months in recovery. She walks with a cane now and has some minor paralysis in her left leg. But she's alive. My kids are now grown and on their own. The boy has a daughter and the girl is in her last year of college. <br>I haven't thought about this in a long time but the news is full of accidents right now so a lot of old thoughts are coming up. This could have been a "let's not meet" story but I was given a second chance. <br><br>I'm so glad I never have to meet what it would have been like if she didn't make it.