A Divine Appointment!

So I wanted to follow up on my note from last night, because I *did* end up emailing the presenter ... here is what I sent her:


"Thank you for two very informative sessions today at the NAPO conference.  Although I found the sessions fun and educational, I would like to make you aware of how the negotiation exercise impacted me in a negative way.


My 18 year old son was driving home with two other girls in his vehicle one early August morning just 8 months ago.  He had worked all day the day before and drove three hours north in the middle of the night to drop off a bed and pick up a futon to bring back home three hours.  He was evidently too tired to be driving, fell asleep, crashed the vehicle, and he was killed, along with one of the two girls with him.  The second girl had fallen asleep on the futon, and when the vehicle started rolling, the mattress miraculously wrapped around her body and she walked away with minor scrapes and bruises, but a lifetime burden of living when the others died.  I struggle with her as well, trying to find meaning in why two were chosen for death and one was chosen for life.  I have wrestled with this issue and whether, if given the choice, I would have chosen my son to be the one who lived.  Immediately, my heart wants to say "of course", but then two innocent girls die because of his error ... and he never forgives himself for it.  Would I truly choose that?  So today, as you are introducing this exercise to demonstrate negotiating skills, the horror is rising in my heart.  I have to decide whether to stay and participate, stay and not participate, or bolt the hell out of there.  I bolted the hell out of there, regrouped, and came back.  I tell you all of this not to have your sympathy or to cause you any guilt or pain, but rather hope that you will evaluate coming up with a different exercise for negotiation skills.  I cannot be the only person who is dealing with grief, and it truly did cause me a great deal of distress.

I have a blog, NormalDiedWithMax.blogspot.com if you are ever interested.  Thank you for hearing my opinion, take it for what it is worth."

Today, I ducked out to go to the bathroom, and this lady, who is NOT a NAPO member but rather a paid key note speaker, recognizes me ON SIGHT and comes up to me.  She had gone to my blog and read my story, knew who I was, and told me that it was a perspective shift for her and she had sent me an email (that I still didn't get for some reason, but read over her blackberry) letting me know that and thanked me for sharing my story with her and that she would evaluate using that in the future.  She also gave me a couple of her DVDs as a free gift.  Well, I am a fan for life now, as you can imagine!  Thank you, Lord, for your divine appointment today, I feel so blessed!!