Jeff you are VERY lucky. I am glad you are OK. DO have a check-up ASAP!

An aquaintance where I worked has a 22 year old son. He has passed his 19th, 20th, and 21st birthdays paralyzed and in pain. He can breathe on his own, he can recognize and even perform rudimentary communication. He is not a "vegetable". He was severely injured when he and his buddy decided early one evening to go to a town about 7 miles from his house to get a pizza. On their way they were run into by a woman in her mid thirties who had twice the limit (.8, currently) of alcolhol. She crossed over the center line on a curve and ran head-on into the two young men. John's friend suffered a broken arm, John has suffered what I described above. The woman had three previous DWI convictions. She was driving on a revoked license, and was in violation of her parole, in addition to the suspended license violation. Actually, as my fellow worker found out later, she had been arrested for DWI FIVE times altogether. The first two times, which occured within six months of each other, she was allowed to plead guilty to another charge. Here in Franklin county, Missouri the other charge is called "operating a motor vehicle with a faulty exhaust system" It cost her $350 each time. Franklin county does NOT take DWI arrests seriously. Franklin county also has one of the highest death per accident rates in the state of Missouri. Most of our paved roads are old farm roads with a coat of asphalt. The two State highways have no shoulders and deep ditches and the one US highway, (highway 50) has "soft" shoulders and is in terrible repair. Since we are at the edge of the Ozark Plateau and our Northern border is the Missouri river, we have very steep hills and many, many curves. It takes real skill to drive these roads SOBER. The number of roadside crosses here would astound you. Almost ALL mark the site of deaths caused by drunk driving.

CB