It was the end of a 12-day on archaeological project when I came home that day. It was only supposed to be a ten day project, but another project had popped up as I was driving home on day 10 so I had to make a two-day detour.

When I came home that day, I had dumped all my paperwork, Trimble and vehicle/safety logs and left, getting to start a four day hiatus.

I was greeted at our home by my beautiful wife and infant daughter. After adjusting to home and playing with my daughter, my wife looked at me and told me she was going to Katie Luther’s place in Mandan. Katie’s place was a haven for her to get away and get some genuine “girl time” which I had no problem with. She also got to get yarn and knit with like minded women in a beautiful part of Morton county.

“Do you want me to take Liana with me?” She asked.

I looked down at our daughter who was trying to “walk” along the edge
Of the couch. Hearing her name, she turned her head up and stared at me with these big doe eyes of hers. I was tired and exhausted, but my wife needed and deserved the time.
How could I say no to a sweet little face like that anyway?

“Don’t worry about” I told her giving her a kiss and a hug, “I’ll take care of her, you go and have some girl time. Enjoy yourself!”.

With that she stepped out the door and left.

—————————

I don’t remember what we did during that time together. I always enjoyed Time with my daughter and it almost always involved laughing and giggling. At around the 2 1/2 hour mark, nature began calling my name. My daughter was starting to crawl at this point so I scooped her up with a plush toy she had gotten from her uncle Todd and put her in view where I could see her. I walked back to the couch with her and saw that I had missed two
Phone calls in the space of a few short
Minutes.
Normally, I wouldn’t have redialed the phone number but that amount of calls within the short span of time…
Out of curiosity, i redialed the phone number.
The dial tone went for a short while when a woman answered on the other line:
“Hello?”
Pause. “Yes? Who is this?”
“My name is chandler Herson, you dialed my phone number?”
pause. “Is your wife Valerie?”
“yes, why do you ask?”
“She’s been in a car accident and they are taking her to Medcenter One”.
My heart leapt into my throat then stopped as it dropped into my stomach.
“What??” I managed to wheeze out,
“Is she ok??”. Panic and fear were beginning to set in.
“I don’t know, the paramedics took her a few moments ago”.
My heart, which had stopped beating about a second ago and was residing now in my stomach began to come back to life due to terror.
My mind began to race: “what kind of condition was she in? Why wasn’t she able to call me herself? Did she hit
Someone else?”
I thanked the woman for calling me and immediately grabbed my daughter and her car seat and – as calmly as I could – proceeded to my truck. One thing I learned as a father is that children can sense fear, anxiety and overall stress, so I was trying to stay calm. I strapped her in and then very quickly drove to Medcenter One.

———–End of Part 1———