Here is Wendell and His family

Peggy, James,Wendell, and Angel

Wendell is now 31 and doing well. He works at INA Bearing as a Supervisor.

He is a hard working individual. He has set high goals and will probably achieve them. I didn't think he'd live to see the day, for he and I butted heads on more then one occasion. He is partly responsible for all my gray hair.

Growing up Wendell was athletic, he was always competitive in sports and school. He had to be the best. He was also very vain about his looks.

The first time I realized it was when he was in sixth grade I think. There was a school band-o-rama at the school stadium. The kids wanted to go and Janet and I didn't. Since the school was only a few blocks away we decided to let them go alone, since this event would be well attended by school teachers and staff. This was the first time we had trusted them to go without us. We knew when it was to end and told them to come right home or they wouldn't be able to go alone again.

After the program had ended we were watching TV and waiting for the kids to return. Dawn our oldest came running in screaming that Wendell had been hit by a car. Janet ran out the door while I put on a shirt and then Ran out the door barefoot. I passed Janet up and arrived where Wendell was. Holly (my daughter) was standing there saying Oh My God, Oh My God.

Wendell was laying on his back at the curb of the road just off the road. The person that was attending to Wendell ask if I was his father and I said yes. I looked at Wendell and didn't like what I saw. He had blood all over his face, his eye was swollen, and looked like Rocky after one of his fights. I knelt down and talked to Wendell and he replied, which let me know that he would be alright. To shorten the rest of this story it wasn't until years later, that Wendell told me, he doesn't remember anything after the accident until he heard my voice.

It was within a few days of the accident that I learned that he was very vain. He wouldn't look at him self, in the mirror. He and I had along talk about this fact. He today shows no signs of the accident. The only scar is within. There maybe some scaring but it is not noticeable to me.

The ironic part of this accident is he pushed his girl friend out of the way and it was his school teacher that was driving the car that hit him. He has had an impact on their lives.

Putting the blame on anybody or suing was not the answer to my problems. Knowing that he was going to be alright was the most important thing to me.

Another kid another day.