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Here are excerpts from a letter I received in a Christmas card some years ago.
I changed the names and places, etc., so the people can remain anonymous.
Christmastime 20XX
Happy Holidays to you all!
What a year this has been for us. It started out OK enough.
…
Outside of <major US city> Tom bought a <generic tricycle gear> airplane. He had sold his <generic taildragger> a month or so earlier.
…Tom’s sister and her husband arrived for a vacation and we had a nice time with them. The day they left I slipped and broke my left ankle. The following day Tom left for <major US city> to pick up his airplane. About 3 miles from the airport in <small town>, <name of state>, where he was going to land, the engine quit. Not quite sure why (calculations said he had plenty of gas and his fuel gauges were each reading about half full) he attempted an emergency landing in a field. As he descended the engine started running again. Tom was confident he could make the airport when suddenly the engine quit again. This time he was out of runway and had to make a forced landing. Upon impact Tom hit his face on the instrument panel. He was awake and jumped out of the plane, thinking it might explode. It didn't but his face was a mass of broken bones. All bones but his lower jaw bone were broken. His nose was crushed into his face. In the end all these bones were able to be wired together, a plastic floor was put under Tom's right eye to hold it in place and his jaw was wired shut for over 6 weeks. That was the hardest part for Tom. He had to drink everything through a straw. He ate pretty well, but it would have nauseated most people on the combinations he would throw together. However, the fortunate part for Tom at the time was he could neither smell nor taste. He still has limited ability on these two things. He will always have some problems due to the accident. He had surgery to make a tear duct in his right eye in September and that looks like it is working now. Otherwise the tears just spilled out of his eye all the time. We’re just thankful he is here with us.
Tom did admit that as an instructor he made the mistake of not committing to the landing. Had he done that he would have just had to worry about getting the plane out of the field. Instead, the plane was a total loss. On impact most of the metal crumpled and the nose gear collapsed. The tail section was in pretty good shape though. We sold it for salvageable parts. He hadn't put insurance on it, having owned it just a few hours when the accident happened.
Tom was in intensive care several days and in the hospital a week. Two days after Tom's accident my Mom had a stroke and died. She had been in very bad health for many years and in a way it was a blessing.
However, there I was in a cast with a foot swelling purple, Tom in intensive care and not knowing what to do. We put off the funeral until Tom was out of intensive care and in no danger and I flew to <major US city> for the funeral and returned the following day. Not the best 4 days in our lives so far.
But things have progressed very well since then. My ankle is well. Tom is doing great, though he looks a little different in the eyes. The plastic surgeon made incisions for the wiring and they are hard to detect now…
…
We do hope that you all are doing well and will have a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to hearing from you and if you are in <major US city> , please look us up!
Merry Christmas,
Betty and Tom
I changed the names and places, etc., so the people can remain anonymous.
Christmastime 20XX
Happy Holidays to you all!
What a year this has been for us. It started out OK enough.
…
Outside of <major US city> Tom bought a <generic tricycle gear> airplane. He had sold his <generic taildragger> a month or so earlier.
…Tom’s sister and her husband arrived for a vacation and we had a nice time with them. The day they left I slipped and broke my left ankle. The following day Tom left for <major US city> to pick up his airplane. About 3 miles from the airport in <small town>, <name of state>, where he was going to land, the engine quit. Not quite sure why (calculations said he had plenty of gas and his fuel gauges were each reading about half full) he attempted an emergency landing in a field. As he descended the engine started running again. Tom was confident he could make the airport when suddenly the engine quit again. This time he was out of runway and had to make a forced landing. Upon impact Tom hit his face on the instrument panel. He was awake and jumped out of the plane, thinking it might explode. It didn't but his face was a mass of broken bones. All bones but his lower jaw bone were broken. His nose was crushed into his face. In the end all these bones were able to be wired together, a plastic floor was put under Tom's right eye to hold it in place and his jaw was wired shut for over 6 weeks. That was the hardest part for Tom. He had to drink everything through a straw. He ate pretty well, but it would have nauseated most people on the combinations he would throw together. However, the fortunate part for Tom at the time was he could neither smell nor taste. He still has limited ability on these two things. He will always have some problems due to the accident. He had surgery to make a tear duct in his right eye in September and that looks like it is working now. Otherwise the tears just spilled out of his eye all the time. We’re just thankful he is here with us.
Tom did admit that as an instructor he made the mistake of not committing to the landing. Had he done that he would have just had to worry about getting the plane out of the field. Instead, the plane was a total loss. On impact most of the metal crumpled and the nose gear collapsed. The tail section was in pretty good shape though. We sold it for salvageable parts. He hadn't put insurance on it, having owned it just a few hours when the accident happened.
Tom was in intensive care several days and in the hospital a week. Two days after Tom's accident my Mom had a stroke and died. She had been in very bad health for many years and in a way it was a blessing.
However, there I was in a cast with a foot swelling purple, Tom in intensive care and not knowing what to do. We put off the funeral until Tom was out of intensive care and in no danger and I flew to <major US city> for the funeral and returned the following day. Not the best 4 days in our lives so far.
But things have progressed very well since then. My ankle is well. Tom is doing great, though he looks a little different in the eyes. The plastic surgeon made incisions for the wiring and they are hard to detect now…
…
We do hope that you all are doing well and will have a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to hearing from you and if you are in <major US city> , please look us up!
Merry Christmas,
Betty and Tom
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