December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

CROSS-STITCH RE-CREATED BY KATHLEEN HOWARD; PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN LUKE
from Shelley, Idaho,
to Salt Lake City, Utah, to
finish our Christmas shopping and to see the
lights on Temple Square. The trip felt routine.
We had made it several times before, and I
quickly fell asleep in the backseat.
After less than an hour I awoke in terror
as the van jerked to the left, then to the right.
Suddenly I was thrown from the vehicle and
landed on my backside on the cold, snowcovered
roadside. Only moments before, my
mother had fastened my one-year-old sister
into her car seat after feeding her but failed
to buckle her own seatbelt. I sat rubbing
my hip, listening to our van tumble in the
background and trying to recall the circumstances
in which I had fallen asleep.
When the van came to a rest, everything
was silent for a moment. Then, as I caught
sight of our mangled van, I began to realize
what had happened, though still not understanding
the magnitude of the tragic event.
Bruised slightly and quite confused, I
walked to the wreckage and my family.
My one-yearold
sister
chose the
first gift, and Dad
removed the
wrapping paper
for her from a
framed crossstitch
my mother
had prepared. It
read, “The circle
of our love is
Forever.”
ENSIGN DECEMBER 2004 53