Car Accident PTSD

When something small is something big

The Kid works a part-time job at a hospital, which offers a great deal on tuition reimbursement. Her job requires she works a 12 hour shift every Friday evening. I often feel a sense of unease on those nights, mostly because she has to commute at 3 o'clock in the morning. I finally determined that I have a very mild form of PTSD from her car accident. 

MidJourney prompt: ptsd --ar 4:5 --v 5.2 ... * I found this picture interesting … that Midjourney used a soldier for “PTSD” as the prompt. PTSD in military members is real. Please consider donating to a worthy organization, writing cards and letters, or giving care packages to those deployed.

The Husband also suffers from the same car accident PTSD. One day while he was at work, The Kid called him in the morning. He was walking around at work, and the phone call pinged over his iWatch. She doesn't normally call either of us (she will text message, even if we are in the same house ...)* So when this call came, he bolted across the building. Because he thought something had happened, like a car accident.

So on Saturday morning, the day we were to drive to South Carolina for vacation, I woke up. The Husband immediately told me that The Kid didn't come home the night before.

And we panicked. She's home before we get up in the morning, even if she has to stay late at work.

I text.

15 minutes later, I call.

15 minutes after that, I call again. Text again.

In between that time, The Husband packed the car, and also called and texted her.

So we were left with a dilemma: Should we wait around to make sure she is okay? How fast would we have to come back if something was wrong? Would we need to be at home if we needed to call the police, if we didn't hear from her in x number of hours?

In the end, we decided that she probably went to visit her grandparents and forgot to tell us. And we would hear from her around 1 p.m. when she would get up, see about 23948729347 text messages and phone calls from us, and then roll her eyes.

Is this normal for a parent to feel this way about an adult child, who lives at home? Or was this a manifestation of PTSD because of her car accident? 

Quite possibly, just because I'm a mom, and it's my job to worry. Kids, text message your parents to tell them you are okay.

The Promos

I'm advertising Pulse-Pounding Pages: The Ultimate Thriller Showcase this newsletter. As you guessed it, it's a bunch of free thriller books. Grab yours!

Happenings

This past week, I was in not-so-sunny South Carolina. We went through a remnant of Hurricane Ida while here, so that was interesting.

I've kept this newsletter short as I'm on vacation from my vacation. Next week, I shall write up a bit about North Myrtle Beach. Or possibly about being at the beach during a hurricane (or a really bad thunderstorm).

I read the Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo while on vacation. All I can say is wow. I absolutely loved it. If you are a literature buff like me, you will be able to appreciate the small things that she did throughout the series, such as foreshadowing, dialogue subtext, and great openers/closers of scenes. I highly recommend.

However, for those who watched the Shadow and Bone Netflix series, there are quite a number of changes from the television show. Mostly, the integration of her other series, the Six of Crows. I haven't read the Six of Crows series yet ... I'm off to reread (and rewatch) the Wheel of Time series, my all-time favorite book series.

I love the WoT series. Tbh, I could write an entire blog on just the series and all the details from the world. This is the book series that got me interested in writing. Not so much a fan of the television series, but Season 2 just dropped so we shall see.

I'm working on several more free downloads ... not all of them fiction ... so stay tuned!

In case you were wondering, The Kid stayed over her friend's house overnight, and she didn't text us because we weren't supposed to be there. But she did wake up to about 23948729347 text messages and phone calls from us.