Tragedies into Triumphs

Tiffany Flygare

It was amazing to hear the story of Jen Crouse last Sunday.  One thing I have found in life is that it is full of surprises. Many of them are unexpected pleasures and blessings that come our way. Others are tragic and sad. I am amazed by so many strong people that I know and the things that they have overcome. We all have stories of tragedy and of triumphs. I guess what it comes down to is how we react to our situations. Will we allow situations, no matter what they are, to build us up or tear us down?  I can relate to Jen's story a bit as I had a similar tragedy happen in our family. My dad, my step-mom, Kelly and their good friend, Steve were headed to Chico, Montana for a sky diving convention. Steve was a pilot and offered to fly my parents with him in his single engine plane. They left the morning of June 27th 1996. When arriving and preparing to land the plane, they ran into gusty winds. After several failed attempts to land, they made one last try as the winds had died down for a brief time. But before the wheels could touch ground, a large gust of wind caught the plane and flipped it several hundred feet, landing on its top. My dad and Steve were killed instantly. My mom survived, but like Jen is paralyzed from the chest down. Losing my dad was the most painful thing that has happened to me, but seeing what my mom had to endure during her recovery was heart wrenching. Now for me I probably would have given up so many times, but I watched a broken, bruised and tired woman rise above her obstacles. I could not help but stand in awe of her.  In the years following the accident my mom had to teach herself things that are easy for us like to dress herself again and to eat. She taught herself to sew with her elbow, she completed a half marathon, became a CCI Service Dog graduate and became a CCI leadership team president. She was a keynote speaker for many events and continued to work full-time as a senior communications consultant managing multi-million dollar projects. She started two businesses, remarried, made friends, loved more, donated thousands and survived.

But survival without my dad was tough on all of us. Still today the sting of his death can catch me off guard and send me reeling in grief. My dad was only 48 years old. He never got to meet any of his grandchildren. He was the rock in my life. You see I didn't have a relationship with God when my dad was killed.  I felt afraid and sad as I didn't have the comfort of really knowing where my dad was or if I would see him again. The tragedy of death is a reality of life. It is a completely hopeless occurrence if we face it apart from the One who has power over it. That is exactly how I felt: Hopeless. In the years to follow and a through tragedy in my own life, I found a relationship with God. This new relationship with my Father in Heaven helped fill the huge hole in my life. He gave me the Holy Spirit who is our counselor, our advocate and most importantly, our comforter.  I now have the comfort of knowing I will see my dad again.