Crystal Balls

We could have had lunch together that day
We could have met there so easily;
It was all planned out beforehand and only the day to set
The glass chandeliers were perfect (reminding me of the family aesthetic),
The food divine
The bead shop next door was exactly what we all like
And a special room for guys - with antlers and Woody Crumbo prints
Everything was right for a lovely lunch and some pleasant conversation
... a long but not too long car ride there and back
A straight road and not too much traffic, just cruise

But, instead, you are not there but in a hospital bed
(and we are on the way to see you)....You had......chosen
To do something else that weekend and so had we, then there was....
Some speed, some slush ...a slide, some car rolls, and hanging upside down in the car...battered by skis and cameras....in a creek !
A few pefect people rushing to cut the seat belt
And ease you and your broken neck to the bank
As you shivered in shock, then a miraculous Flight for Life
Helicoper ride to Denver, then an operation and then
Morphine self medication and nurses every few minutes waking you up
And family and loved ones gathered around,
You are going to be OK, we think, and you are talking to us
You, the person who just spent a year overcoming serious cancer,
A miracle within a miracle behind a battered head; bright green eyes peering
and darting to converse and make contact,
And you have not looked in the mirror - thank you very much,
And we are all in shock and in awe;

The young girl, the daughter of your tow truck man, is in and out of consciousness
In the adjoining room. What are the chances of that.
And what were the chances to have a EMT, a cop and
A nurse to rush to your car within seconds out there on Trout Creek Pass
Overlooking the massive snow covered Collegiate Range or is it the other way around?
And in pops the ambulance driver from Salida, the flight crew person, who next?

How is it that the choices we make for what to do today
And where to do it and how - can seem so eerily tightwoven
Into the history of the people and places around us
Like ribbons of multiple faceted threads intertwined in love tangles,
Fraught with possibilites; binding together the
"multiverse" and creating shock and awe.

A family reunion that was unplanned, but full of love and important messages
For all concerned.
No god to thank, just events to ponder; clear and amber crystal chandeliers
With crystal balls for accents and interest; for those who peer into such things.