From Boys to Young Men

Boys now

Let me preface this blog entry by saying our family dynamic was changed on the morning of June 15th. I received the phone call no one ever wants to receive – that my husband had been in a motorcycle accident and when I asked if he was OK he replied “no.” I can’t tell you the thoughts that raced through my head as I tried to get to the scene of the accident, but I can tell you that I did exhale just a little bit when I was able to see him and see that he was “OK”  I use the term OK loosely. Brett suffered a plateau tibia fracture and a broken sternum.  After two surgeries, two hospital stays and many follow up visits with the doctor, we are finally on the road to recovery.

One thing I can tell you is how proud I am of my stepsons for stepping up to help out while Brett has had to keep his leg elevated 23 ½ hours a day for the past month. There was no more dinner together as a family at the table or going to watch Josh at his basketball game or taking the boat out so the boys could enjoy summer fun on the lake. 

Everything stopped and everything changed in an instant.

One chore that needed to be done was mowing the yard.  Josh and Nathan have taken on the responsibility of mowing each week-one mows the front and the other mows the back.  It is a system that is working out well.

My youngest stepson, Nathan, has a very caring heart and has been my “on call” nurse for Brett while I’ve had to go to work during the day.  He would set his watch and come down and check on Brett every two hours and sometimes just hang out with him all day so he wasn’t alone. Nathan would also make him a sandwich for lunch, refill his ice water and change out is Iceman® which is this awesome device they sent us home with to put on his leg to reduce swelling. 

My oldest stepson, Joshua is of a little different mindset since he is a teenager. Food is often a high priority so he has been keenly interested in which of our amazing neighbors was bringing dinner so he could be sure to join us if one made a favorite of his. Beyond food, though, Josh has been my late night watchman for Brett.  Another thing about teenagers is that are a bit nocturnal in the summer.  This has worked out great for me since Brett had to sleep in the recliner in the living room.  He and Josh would hang out and watch movies until the wee hours of the morning and I was able to go to bed and get some rest knowing Josh was keeping him company.

Boys in 2003

This experience has been life changing for all of us and made us value family and friends even more.  And through it all I have seen these two boys start to turn into wonderful young men which could not make me more proud.  Has your family ever experienced a life event that forced you to change everything?


Makala Pollard is a Sr. Marketing Specialist at Texas Health Resources and Stepmom to two boys.