On Tuesday morning, our 21-year-old niece Emilee — Tracie’s sister’s daughter — was in a terrible car accident on Farm-to-Market Road 1135 in Orangefield, Texas, not far from Orange and West Orange where Tracie grew up.

A dump truck full of used kitchen grease ran a stop sign and collided with Emilee’s Hyundai Elantra (in the photo above).

It’s a miracle she survived.

As soon as Tracie’s mom called to let her know what had happened, I went and got the girls out of school and we headed to the Beaumont hospital where she had been taken. At that point, no one was sure she would make it. By the time we made it over the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge, all we knew was that she was going into surgery to stop internal bleeding.

Her mom, who works as a nurse at that same Beaumont hospital, described her injuries late last night on her Facebook:

“She had a perforated bowel which required surgical intervention, a fractured radius, clavicle, and orbital bone, along with multiple Lumbar fractures. Thankfully, no surgery will be needed for her back, but she will have to wear a brace for 12 long weeks with no driving.”

She was still in the ICU when we drove back to Houston yesterday afternoon. They should be moving her to a regular hospital room today.

Tracie has been very close to Emilee her whole life.

After Emilee enrolled at University of Houston a few years ago, she began spending a lot of nights at our house. She was already very close with both of our girls.

That’s Emilee, above, with Georgia at Easter this year.

It’s a miracle she’s alive. G-d bless Emilee and her family. We love her and them so much. We have so much to be grateful for. More than words can say…

There are moments that the words don’t reach
There is suffering too terrible to name
You hold your child as tight as you can
Then push away the unimaginable.

Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you
Tomorrow I’ll miss you
Remember I’ll always be true
And then while I’m away
I’ll write home every day
And I’ll send all my loving to you

I’ll pretend that I’m kissing
the lips I am missing
And hope that my dreams will come true
And then while I’m away
I’ll write home every day
And I’ll send all my loving to you

All my loving I will send to you
All my loving, darling I’ll be true

I miss them already. Wish me luck, wish me speed. See you at Vinitaly…

Welcome, Paco! The newest member of the Parzen family!

Little Paco (above, left) came into our lives two months ago, first as a foster dog and then as our officially adopted chihuahueño.

He’s super sweet with the girls and he’s been wonderful for our chihuahua mix rescue Rusty, who is still a bit neurotic and skittish but a lot less so now that he has a pal (they are best friends, even though Rusty can be a little jealous of his daddy).

Paco was a rescue, too: he was abandoned by his family when they moved to a new house. They took their other dogs but not little Paco! We don’t know why.

In keeping with Parzen family tradition, the Parzen Family Singers wrote and recorded a song for him. That’s Lila Jane and me, with a few cameos from Georgia and mommy, in the track below. (Lila Jane and I recorded our vocals in one live, improvised take. I’m so proud of how she’s taken to the recording arts. Here’s the song she wrote for Rusty.)

Enjoy the music and the cute chihuahua pics! Thanks for being here and sharing our joy.

Buon weekend a tutti! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tracie and I are raising money to buy one (1) month of advertising on a billboard that stands across the road from the newly erected Confederate Memorial of the Wind (see below), a monument built by the Sons of Confederate Veterans on Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. in Orange, Texas along Interstate 10.

In observance of Martin Luther King Day (January 21, 2019) and African American History Month (February) , the billboard will look down on the memorial, which (as of this posting) includes the Robert E. Lee battle flag, otherwise known as “the Confederate Flag.”

CLICK HERE TO DONATE.

Artwork for the billboard (above) was created pro bono by an anonymous designer.

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