March 27, 2021 started out like any other day in our house -- chaotic and full of activity. We were trying to get the car and kids loaded for our last ski day before the mountain closed for the season. We got out the door and hit the road.
We were about half way to the ski hill when our Active 911 apps went off alerting us to a body recovery for search and rescue. My husband and I had been on the team for about four years. At first, we were going to ignore it and continue on with our planned day. After a couple of minutes, we looked at each other and decided the "white boy guilt" was too much and that we should respond.
I texted a friend who was also taking his kids skiing that day and asked if he would meet us to grab our kids and then we'd meet them at the hill. He agreed. We turned around and headed back towards town to wait alongside the road.
We saw them crest the hill. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital four days later. When I was alert enough to understand, I was told that we had been in a vehicle accident.
As my husband attempted to turn back onto the road, we were broadsided by a semi -- he never saw it coming.
My husband, 35, and oldest son, 9, were killed. My other son, 8, and daughter, 7, were life-flighted to Seattle. I was confined to the hospital recovering from two collapsed lungs, a dissected aorta, a lacerated liver, a TBI and 16 rib fractures.
After two weeks, I was finally discharged, got to say good-bye to my boys at the funeral home and was allowed to travel to Seattle to see my other two children.
By the time I got there, my daughter had regained consciousness. She suffered the least physical damage with a TBI and broken clavicle.
My son, however, took several more weeks to come back to us. When I arrived in Seattle, I was told I would have to decide whether or not to "pull the plug". He had a severe TBI, had suffered a stroke in the hospital from clots created in his stretched aorta, had a ruptured spleen, two collapsed lungs and multiple fractures from head to toe.
Naturally, I refused to believe everything I was told and insisted that he was still there and would be alright. He was in Seattle until July and then was allowed to come back home to Montana. It has been slow, but steady, progress. In September, he started speaking again -- in full sentences (yes, he is a real-life miracle). He is still in a wheelchair, pushing forward and mending every day but we have a long road ahead of us.
Why the three of us even survived is beyond my ability to understand. All five of us should have died that day. The fact that there was immediate help on scene by multiple medical professionals that "just happened" to be heading to the ski hill as well that day, is literally the only reason we all didn't leave the earth that day.
What does this have to do with The Outbound lifestyle? Everything. This is hands-down the worst and hardest endeavor I've ever encountered in my life. The thing is, I was able to say good-bye to my boys with peace in my heart because I knew without a doubt, that they had both LIVED their lives. As a family, we were always out hiking, camping, skiing, hunting, fishing, swimming, exploring, adventuring and living. We were our own little tribe. The kids were obsessed with being outside and doing every outdoor thing they could learn and attempt to master.
My husband was constantly pushing himself physically and mentally, and had made it his mission in life to be the best dad and human he could be. He was also a proud service member and the week after the wreck was announced to be the national NCO of the year throughout the entire Air National Guard -- he had already received the local and regional award prior to the wreck. He was also an outstanding member of ski patrol. To say he excelled at life is a huge understatement.
Even my son who is still recovering, had an amazing life and I know he will grow up to have the best life possible. Because we will accept nothing less. The whole family could've gone Home that day and I don't think any of us would've wished we had done more with our lives, accept, of course, for the kids being so young.
The point to all of this is, you have no idea when your time is up. Life is short and unpredictable. We are clueless as to what our future holds.
The only thing certain is today. So take it. Don't wait. Take today and do everything you can with it. #EveryoneOutside today and every day. Live your life. Every single day of it. So when that day comes, you also can have no regrets.
We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!
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