T-Shirt #2.3

From Tom Glanzer, Living On Liquid somewhere near Huron, SD -

Almost a year ago to the day, my life changed.

My wife, then 3 year old son and unborn son were driving to the airport in Omaha to catch a flight to visit my in-laws. They never made it.

They t-boned a Coke delivery truck. The 2006 GMC Yukon with 4,000 miles on it was totaled, but everything worked the way it should have. Maxim's car seat and seat belt saved his little life. Steph's seatbelt and air bag saved the life of Steph, and the little person we now know as Brecken.

That accident could have been completely different. I could be alone.

When an event like that happens you look at life a bit differently. Things that seem like the world...don't matter as much.

After that accident, we changed our lives...minus = plus style.

We were chasing the "American Dream" big house, big city, always rushing, kids in daycare...etc.

Then we did it, we subtracted my wife's job, we subtracted our $350,000 house-dreams, we subtracted our high-cost living style, I subtracted eating out every day, I also subtracted 20 pounds by doing that...we subtracted living in a great bustling city, we subtracted cable TV, I subtracted my office on the top floor...etc.

What we added...our kids to our care 24 hours a day, a house on a lake in a part of the state not many people know about or care about, family dinners eaten around a table almost nightly, we read to ourselves and our kids, sunrises and sunsets that get more and more epic, more faith in each other and God, more time with grandparents, more smiles, more joy, more peace.

It is still a challenge, we miss friends, things, and some luxuries, but what we have gained, what our children will gain...it is priceless.

I know that our minus...has generated more plus than we will ever know. I see it on the face of my loving mother when she holds my boys, I see it in the toys scattered all over the house after a cold South Dakota day has forced the boys to play inside, I see it in the snow angels that Maxim and I made 2 months ago and that still mark the ice-covered lake just outside my bedroom window, I see it when I leave the house for work, and my wife and boys are still tucked away in their beds...knowing that the day will be spent together as a family...just like every other day.

Minus is a Plus for this family.