Meet the Newell fam

We're long out of Pennsylvania, but I've finally assembled some photos for those of you who have not met my family- or not seen them in a while. There are quite a few folks- family and friends- who somehow didn't end up in a photo.  And quite a few friends who I didn't get to visit at all, particularly in Philly. Sorry!! 

The nuclear Newell family (in order of age): Larry, Teri,
Kristy, Ashley & Gregory with Spencer & Cooper dogs

Newell siblings- yes, we are in the back of Black Beauty

Notice the sweet hot tub on the back porch- an addition
 to the home well after I moved out!

This was Andrew's second time visiting good ol' Mount Joy, Pennsylvania home of the Newell clan, but he's actually met my parents a few other times in Alaska over the past 3 years we've been dating. They like him a lot and I can see why of course. :-) In fact, he made the family Christmas card this year!

Granny and Grandmom Newell ready for an adventure to Oregon I think :-)

My great-grandmother, "Nana," who is a healthy 94!

In the last post, Andrew alluded to a crazy story behind the loss of my beloved wool blanket. Here's the long story...

I was on the way down from Rochester to PA with my sister, Ashley. She met us at the PA/NY border for a passenger swap. (Andrew headed back to NY for another week visiting family.) Two hours into the trip south, in the middle of some super quality sister time, I offered to take over at the wheel for Ash. We pulled off the highway on an adjacent road and were ready to return to the highway a couple minutes later when we discovered traffic had stopped. Our path was blocked by an accident- an SUV was in the middle of the two lanes flipped on its side! Though we were less than 100 yards away, we somehow hadn't even heard the crash.

As Ashley is a nurse, we quickly pulled over and she rushed to the scene. I'm very aware of feeling a complete trust and reassurance that this was all unfolding for the greatest good of all. I had a strong sense that our pull off was synchronistic. I felt like I was supposed to be there- perhaps to offer some grounding or presence, what I've learned is called "holding space."

I wandered over to the first smashed up car where a man and his teen son were shaken up but OK. There were a couple of people over at the flipped vehicle so I figured I should stay out of the way. I walked back to the car to grab my blanket, which I've kept with me in the front seat the whole way from Alaska. In fact, this has been my wrapping blanket since I picked it out at the Portland market two years ago with Leah. It's a beautiful wool blanket from Tibet and I've definitely added lots of good energy to it over the years. Anyway, I grabbed the blanket and headed towards the flipped car to check on Ashley. By then the few people who gathered had cleared. I was surprised to find a middle-aged man inside the SUV still. Though he was out of his seat and sort of crouching on the side of the vehicle, he apparently couldn't get out.

I didn't think I had anything to offer and was initially resistant to flock to the scene, but I quickly realized that no one was present with or comforting this man. Ashley was asking some questions and began holding pressure on his gaping head wound. It was pretty clear that he was in shock, and we saw a puddle of blood on the other side of him in addition to the blood covering his face. Again, despite the jarring scene, I knew very well that there were no victims here. I intuitively crouched down beside Rick and was able to reach through the smashed-out sunroof. As he was shivering, I wrapped him in my blanket and was sort of half-hugging him. Rick grabbed onto my hand through the blanket as I talked to him to calm him down and reassure him that he was not alone.  I felt really connected with him as we both sat there in the cold. He talked about his son in gasps and confided a few other personal details of his life through tears.

Within a few minutes, the firefighters arrived and shooed Ash and me away. Over the next hour, we watched from a distance offering prayers and Reiki, as the professionals employed the jaws of life to cut Rick free. (It seemed to me that he could have pretty easily scooted out but who knows.) Eventually he was lifelined out on a helicopter- ostensibly because we were a good hour drive from Harrisburg and the nearest hospital. 

I felt and continue to feel gratitude that I was able to be there and offer presence and grounding during this experience. I hoped to send Rick a note or follow up with him some way, but due to HIPPA laws, the paramedics couldn't divulge where he was headed or how to get in contact with him. Wherever he is, I wish Rick good health and all the love and courage he needs to create a meaningful life. I can't imagine how frightening and lonely it'd feel to go through such trauma; but maybe this was Rick's chance to start anew. I'll never know. For me though, I was able to see that it was my ego at work that nearly convinced me that I didn't have anything to offer. I fully trust that life conspires to provide us with the situations we need to transcend suffering and illusion. I pray that we all have the courage to see the opportunity in every situation in our lives.

On another note, our travels have unexpectedly taken us further south than we anticipated- all the way to Florida in fact! We're planning a warm Christmas- shoot, why not? Plans are overrated anyway. Who knows if we'll even make it to Oregon. Ha!

More to come... including photos of Chris & Bethy in Boone in the next post.