"Your Homework Saved His Life"

(This blog entry is not even remotely related to horses. But, what I write about has deeply affected me on many levels. It is a sobering reminder of how tenuous life can be and how sometimes miracles occur.)

Three times today I heard this phrase: "Your homework saved his life." I heard it from Mary Schwartz, a teacher with whom I work (the boy's great aunt), from his mother, Amy Martin, and from the boy, my student, himself.

And it wasn't just hyperbole. His homework truly did save his life.

As TM's mom explained it to me, normally TM sits at the computer table under their living room window after dinner and plays games with his wheelchair-bound older brother. But TM had fallen behind on getting his homework done, and so he was curled up in a chair doing a reading assignment.

His father was across the room from the computer table and seated in a chair, while the mother was on the couch next to my student, feet up on the ottoman and relaxing. The family dog was snoozing on the floor under her outstretched legs. The disabled brother had decided that, since his brother was unable to play on the computer with him, he would go take a shower. (A decision that saved his life, too.)

TM's mother went on to say that she decided that she wanted a snack, and so she shifted her weight, took her legs off the ottoman, and prepared to stand. This decision saved her life. The dog stood up when she moved her legs and moved to another part of the room - just like the people, this saved his life.

Suddenly, a corvette crashed through the window and wall and into the living room where the computer table had stood, obliterating it and everything in its path.

Amy was pinned in place on the couch; TM next to her was unhurt but also trapped by the car. (His glasses went flying and were later found on the front porch. They have no idea how that happened.) The father was hit by debris and sustained a cut in the head which needed stitches.

Had the boys been at the computer table like usual, they would've been killed. Had Amy not not shifted her weight, causing the dog to move, the car would have hit them both and probably killed them. The father nearly lost his wife, sons, and dog in just seconds.

As you can see from the pictures, the car is completely inside the home. Although the driver denies that speed was a factor and claims that he sustained a flat tire that caused him to lose control of the corvette, it is thought that he was traveling at a high rate of speed, flew over the railroad tracks by the home and lost control, swerving as a result and crashing into my student's home.

Year after year, I have students who fall behind in their schoolwork. So, I work hard to help the kids develop good study habits and hand in their assignments on time. I had just spoken to TM that day at school about his late work and how he needed to get it done since I was working on report cards. The idea that that late work actually saved a student's life, and I fully believe that it did, sobers me.

I also see the hand of God in this. Too many things had to line up for the lives of this family to be preserved. And I am incredibly grateful for that blessing, even if it was for something that frustrates me as late work does.

Procrastinated homework saved the boys' lives. And instead of mourning the loss of a much-loved student, I am thanking God that he is alive.