Angels on the Mountain

Jessy's version (written on Oct. 4, 2017)
My parents were visiting from New York this past weekend. My whole family got together and went for an adventure ATV-ing down south in Utah back-country. We had two 6-seater ATVs. It was a beautiful day venturing up a mountainside with the leaves all changing colors. It had been a long time since we were all together. I was driving one ATV with my dad and the kiddos while my brother-in-law was driving behind us with my mother, sister, brother, and 2-year-old niece strapped into a car seat. I would occasionally look in my rear view mirror to make sure they were still behind me as there was no line of communication between us except for when we stopped along the trail. On our descent, we were down 1,000 ft of the 6,000+ ft elevation and they weren't behind me anymore. I stopped. We waited 2 minutes, then I saw a bright shining rock on the side of the trail that I went to go pick up to take home as a souvenir. It was strange, but as soon as I picked this rock up, I felt something was terribly wrong. I looked over to my dad, trying to keep cool in front of the kids, and said "we have to turn around". He agreed saying "something's not right."

We booked it back up the hill. Those few short minutes that felt like an eternity, my dad and I were both looking over the sheer drop off alongside the trail, still trying not to let on to the kids that anything was wrong. I was thinking, this could be it. It could be me and my dad raising these kids on our own from now on. A half a mile back up the mountain we found them. Going 40 mph down the steep incline, their brakes stopped working. My brother-in-law calmly told his crew "Brakes are out", my sister quickly reaffirmed "Brakes are totally out?"....."Yes". Together, they all braced themselves for what was next. They start to gain even more speed now, rapidly approaching the drop off. My brother-in-law thought they would definitely fly off the ledge at full speed if they went any further. There was no clamor, just silence as my family accepted this fate. At the perfect moment, my brother-in-law saw an opportunity and took it. He quickly cranked the wheel to the left causing the ATV to fly up in the air and land on its right side. It came to an abrupt halt within a foot of the ledge. They climbed out to safety and miraculously had enough service to call for rescue. We found them sitting on the side of the trail, calm, and with only one minor injury.
We couldn't believe how close of a call that was. We couldn't believe how safe we all were in a situation that was NOT safe at all. We cried, A LOT and held each other close. It was in this moment a reset button was pushed. Life is too short to be so focused on one goal, that I forget the importance of human relationships. I need to be more present for my daughter. I need some semblance of quality of life. My degree doesn't go with me when I go, but LOVE will.

Suzanne's version (written on Nov. 14, 2017): Everyone knew that I was the one that was most scared of heights.  They told me I would like this trip and it would be memorable.  Boy, was it ever.  In hindsight I am so glad I was there.  I am glad for the time on the mountain with just my family.  The love that was there will never be forgotten.  Being reunited was epic.  The hugs afterward and the prayer said will always be remembered.  I saw Will crying and I was still too stunned to really move.  But Bill came and wrapped his arms around Will and let him sob in his embrace.

Someone asked if we had pictures of what happened.  No, we don't.  In this day of taking pictures of every aspect of our lives, we didn't take a single picture of the accident.  It just didn't seem important to any of us at the time.  More important things became priority.  

The mountain became a sacred place.  You could feel the presence of angels among us.  A miracle happened on that mountain top.  There is no other logic reason for our survival.

When I heard we had no brakes, I ducked my head for impact and thought how lucky I was to die with my own children.  A certain peace came over me.  No panic at all.

I know we were spared because our work here isn't done.  I pray and hope we can remember that and serve our families and communities when we see a need.  I also hope that we also remember that day on the mountain.  Remember God's tender mercies.  Remember the feeling of love.  Remember that we are always in God's watchful care.  The veil between this life and the next life is very thin, and on this day it was especially so.  Angels stood there with us on that mountain.  If only we could have seen them with our physical eyes.