I debated ever writing this post. In fact, I was trying not to. The truth is I don't know how I write other posts because we have all changed somehow since Thanksgiving. It wouldn't seem right to exclude writing about Thanksgiving. This is after all a blog about our lives. It has become a little family history book for us, so I guess the only thing to really do is write about our day. After all, it was indeed a DeVincent Day.
The day before Thanksgiving was a lot of work and a lot of fun. My sister Katelin came over and we cooked and baked the day away. It has become a little tradition that she comes over and we cook. =) We made: pumpkin cupcakes , chocolate cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, 2 carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting, chicken parm., and eggplant parm. It was quite the delicious spread.
I packed the car and planned everything out so we could wake up Thanksgiving morning and have a relaxing morning. Take our time getting ready, maybe watch a little bit of the parade. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned.
Just before 8am Jason heard news of a friend passing. As I heard him in shock asking "what?" the house phone rang and it was my brother telling me how my mother was nearly in an accident last night and she lost her breaks. He asked if Jason had a car for her to use for the morning so she could be at work at 4am for black Friday.
Relaxing morning over....the rush around began. First on the agenda: bring my mother a car. I was irritated because I knew we were going to Natick for dessert so I would have preferred to bring it to her after dessert at Jay's parents house. But, Jase insisted we do it in the morning (which proved to be the exact thing we needed to do) Next we went to visit the family of Jason's friend to pay our respects. Making 2 more stops: at his parents house along the way (we were in the neighborhood) and dropped off a carrot cake to them; and at a work colleagues house to pick up Jay's second plate so he would have a car to get to work in the morning.
After about 2 hours of running around we were finally on our way to my grandmothers house where my sister in law made quite the Thanksgiving day feast. We hit a ton of traffic, and I had a battle with being car sick. It was a rough ride! Just as I was feeling better, and the mood lightened in the car we came off of 95N exit 44B and were making bets at the exact time we would reach the house. We were 5 minutes away: "Jason: 2:16pm. Katelin: No, no I say 2:18pm. Well if we go by this clock 2:22pm".
Then Jay suddenly said "the car locked up, I have no control". Katelin and I said at the same time "smoke in the car!" Just as we got to the side of the road a flame flashed up in front of my face from outside the car. I yelled " FIRE! Get out! Get the kids out!!" I won't get into the details but thank goodness my sister was with us, we all made it out safely, and ran into the woods. THANK GOD!!!!
We were in the woods freezing. All of our coats were in the car. I didn't put them on the kids when we first got in the car because I knew we were in for a long ride and I didn't want them to get too hot. After 2 calls to 911 and at least 16 minutes the police and fire departments showed up. Not too long there after my brother was on the other side of the exit able to pick us up.
All I can really say is we had angels on our side! There was a tow truck 3 cars behind us that pulled his rig across the exit so no one would be able to pass us. We had strangers help us into the woods and we ALL got out safely, despite the car doors locking up on us.
The trooper on the scene and the tow truck driver could not stress enough how LUCKY we were we got out!
We got into my brothers car and went to my grandmothers where we were shaken, but safe and surrounded by love and family. Later we learned it took another hour (at least) to get the fire out, and it nearly spread into the woods.
Jason and I immediately called our mothers. There were people taking pictures and video we didn't think it would be on the news; but in the event it somehow was we did not want our families to panic.
Thank goodness we brought the trailblazer to my mother, she came to pick us up. My brother had 2 car seats that in the very least would get the little ones home safely. I can honestly say the LAST thing ANY of us wanted to do was get in a car, but even worse, none of us wanted to get back into a trailblazer.
Needless to say it was a BAD day. It's a Thanksgiving we want to put behind us and never think of again. However, I also think it was a blessed Thanksgiving. My family was OK. We were safe and together. I believe my ENTIRE family realized in a drastic and literal way the true definition of Thanks and Thanksgiving.
I can not stress enough the kindness of those who helped us. From the Trooper, to the guys of Gaeta towing in Saugus. Thank You!!! Thank you for your kindness, and support. Thank you to our families for your love and support. Thank you to God, for blessing us with more time together as a family!
We lost SO MUCH in the car. Car seats, coats, navigation, my camera, 3 huge bags of baby clothes, my sisters purse, Jay's plate, SO MUCH! I am the mother prepared for you and your kids. I have blankets and snacks in case we are stuck on the side of the road. Back-up in case the kids get sick. Gauze and etc. in case others need help. NEVER did I plan for a car fire.
I just keep telling myself the important things got out...US!!!! Incredible how life can change in an instant. How precious and delicate it all is. I can't stress enough the angels we had with us. So blessed! So Thankful!
I just pray that now we can really move past this rather than just going through the motions. I almost feel like I had been frozen. I couldn't take pictures, celebrate, its strange. I know it may sound mundane and awkward but its true. I guess in a way just writing about the day has helped. Getting some of the "things" back we lost has helped too. I felt a sense of relief when the kids new car seats came to the door on Tuesday (Recaro of course). By just snapping a picture with my old camera I somehow was able to take a deep breath again and pick up where we left off. Last week we needed to go back to Peabody to meet with the fire department to get a form and Jay and I stopped at the scene. We were in shock at what we saw, but finding my make-up bag in the woods and in tact somehow made me feel better. Seeing the car one last time helped to bring a little closure as well, but there are still some emotional burns to work through. For ALL of us. Time will heal our fear, and life will carry on. We are just so lucky to still share it together.
Tell the ones you love: you love them, and never take for granted the blessings in your life =)
Thank goodness we brought the trailblazer to my mother, she came to pick us up. My brother had 2 car seats that in the very least would get the little ones home safely. I can honestly say the LAST thing ANY of us wanted to do was get in a car, but even worse, none of us wanted to get back into a trailblazer.
Needless to say it was a BAD day. It's a Thanksgiving we want to put behind us and never think of again. However, I also think it was a blessed Thanksgiving. My family was OK. We were safe and together. I believe my ENTIRE family realized in a drastic and literal way the true definition of Thanks and Thanksgiving.
I can not stress enough the kindness of those who helped us. From the Trooper, to the guys of Gaeta towing in Saugus. Thank You!!! Thank you for your kindness, and support. Thank you to our families for your love and support. Thank you to God, for blessing us with more time together as a family!
We lost SO MUCH in the car. Car seats, coats, navigation, my camera, 3 huge bags of baby clothes, my sisters purse, Jay's plate, SO MUCH! I am the mother prepared for you and your kids. I have blankets and snacks in case we are stuck on the side of the road. Back-up in case the kids get sick. Gauze and etc. in case others need help. NEVER did I plan for a car fire.
I just keep telling myself the important things got out...US!!!! Incredible how life can change in an instant. How precious and delicate it all is. I can't stress enough the angels we had with us. So blessed! So Thankful!
I just pray that now we can really move past this rather than just going through the motions. I almost feel like I had been frozen. I couldn't take pictures, celebrate, its strange. I know it may sound mundane and awkward but its true. I guess in a way just writing about the day has helped. Getting some of the "things" back we lost has helped too. I felt a sense of relief when the kids new car seats came to the door on Tuesday (Recaro of course). By just snapping a picture with my old camera I somehow was able to take a deep breath again and pick up where we left off. Last week we needed to go back to Peabody to meet with the fire department to get a form and Jay and I stopped at the scene. We were in shock at what we saw, but finding my make-up bag in the woods and in tact somehow made me feel better. Seeing the car one last time helped to bring a little closure as well, but there are still some emotional burns to work through. For ALL of us. Time will heal our fear, and life will carry on. We are just so lucky to still share it together.
Tell the ones you love: you love them, and never take for granted the blessings in your life =)
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