It was January 2, 1989 when my family and I were living my uncle’s house from California to go home in Portland.
I was 5 years old, and I had 6 more sisters and brothers, all of them older than me. I was the baby in the family....
We left my uncle’s house in the morning and we had a great day listening to Joe, my older brother’s, jokes and singing.
"Emma, do you know what kind of bottle you need for milk?" he asked one of my sisters.
"No..." she answered.
"You need an empty one!" he said. And we began laughing.
But the day passed, and my brothers and sisters fell asleep. My mom said something to my dad and then she fall asleep, too. My father was driving, and everything was so quiet. I tried to sleep, too, but I couldn’t, so I decided to watch the lights out the window. Everything was so nice; I saw lights in different colors and people driving home from work. Then I looked at my father, he looked tired, but I could see in his eyes satisfaction and his face radiated of happiness.
"Dad, why don’t you stop to a hotel or somewhere so you can sleep a little? You have driven the whole day; you look tired."
"I’m fine, Sweetie," he said.
But the thing happened... I saw my father driving off the freeway, I thought,"it is for gas...." When the light turned green, he left the intersection, but I saw a car driving very fast from the right side. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t.... After a few seconds...it was too late. There was a horrible crash. I called my father, but he didn’t answer. I got out from car, and I wanted to open my mother’s door but... I couldn’t. I went back in the car and I tried to wake up one of my sisters, but when I touched her I saw just blood on her face...I began crying and then a tall man came and took me out of the car.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"No!!!" I yelled at him. "Why don’t they wake up?" I screamed.
"It will be ok," he said, and he took me in another car. I was crying, I wanted to stay with my family, I didn’t know what happened and why they didn’t wake up. In a minute I saw an ambulance coming; then police, and fire department. All the blue and red lights helped me see from the car what happened outside. They tried to take my mom out from the car, but they needed almost 15 minutes for that. Then they took the rest of my family. For a second I thought everybody was sleeping, but then I could hear a voice saying:
"He is alive! He is alive!" and everybody ran to the left part of the car and took out my older brother. They put him in the ambulance and left.
I don’t remember what happened after that. I just know that I woke up the next day in a big white room. A lady was looking at me with small eyes and she said:
"It will be fine."
"Where are my mom and my dad? Where is my family? I want my family back? Where did you take them? Where are they?" and I started crying. She didn’t say anything. She just gave me a hug.
"Come with me," she said.
We went out the door and I could see outside a big long hall with many rooms. I was in a hospital. We went in one of those rooms. I saw my brother in a bed.
"Is he sleeping?" I asked. She looked at me and answered:
"He is a little bit sick, but he will be fine."
After lunch, my uncle from California came. I was surprised seeing him. He gave me a big hug and he said:
"It will be fine." And he began crying.
After a few days we went to the funerary. There were six coffins. My parents and four of brothers and sisters died. It was the worst day in my life. I will always remember that day.
Then my uncle moved in Portland with me. Every day we went to visit my brother to the hospital. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t even open his eyes or move his hand. He was in coma. My uncle explained to me all those things that happened and I understood that now I have a new family: my uncle, my brother and I.
The time passed and when I was 7 years old I went in my first grade. We were still going everyday to visit my brother and to pray for him.
Three years passed and my brother was seating in the same bed, in the same room with a lot of machines all around his bed. It was Sunday, after church when my uncle and I went to the hospital. He talked something with a doctor and then he came and told me:
"Your brother can’t live here anymore. You are big enough now, and you know how hard it is for him to stay here everyday; he is too sick and is better for him to..."he stopped for a second and then he continued "...it is better for him to go to heaven, where your parents and your brothers are."
"I know..." I said. "I knew that is going to happen." I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t.
"It will be fine," my uncle said. "You are a strong girl and I will always be with you." he smiled.
"Thank you," I said. And I went to my brother’s bed, I gave him a kiss and I said:
"I will always miss you, I will always miss your jokes, tell my mom, my dad and my brothers that I miss them so much, but I know I’ll see you again in heaven, in a short time." I tried to look happy, to smile but in my mind I was trying to find a way to get earlier to heaven. I was thinking how I can kill my self. My life had no sense. I couldn’t see anything in the future.
After that, four doctors came and began taking off all machines. They let just the computer that shows how his heart beats. We all were waiting to hear the sound that said my brother died. But a miracle happened! His heart began beating! For a moment the doctors didn’t know what to believe.
"My brother is alive!" I said to my uncle. He was so socked, he couldn’t say anything. After a while I heard him saying:
"Thank you, God! Thank you for this miracle!"
After two months my brother opened his eyes, I was so happy! Three months later he came home. He couldn’t walk but we took care of him.
Now he can eat by himself and with a little help he can walk. He didn’t forget his jokes and we always have a great time together.
I asked God to forgive me for the thoughts I had and to give me power... it wasn’t easy...even now, after so many years, I still remember my mom’s eyes when she was looking at me with so much love, my father’s voice...he used to call me "sweetie". I don’t remember too much about my brothers... but Joe has only good things to say about them.
We will always thank God for the biggest miracle He made in our lives, and I know that some day I’ll be with my family again...in heaven.

Based on a true story!