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Renee's Blog

Thoughts Untangled, Grace Embraced

Life and Faith

Why Margin Notes?

- By Renee

I have rules about books—and one of the most important is to write in the margins. Here’s how a lifelong habit of annotation became Margin Notes: thoughts worth noting.

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When Did a Phone Call Start Feeling Intrusive?
October 10, 2026

$Alive Day I’ve heard that when military folks survive something that very well could have killed them, they sometimes call that date their Alive Day. Well, my husband Tom now has an Alive Day. One year ago today, on October 4, 2025, Tom fell twenty feet from a tree stand. It was already going to be a busy Saturday. My parents were visiting from Virginia because they were in the middle of building their new home in Bluffton, South Carolina. Amanda and Kayla were planning to drive up to Bluffton with them to help make decisions about all the things that come with building a house, and I was going to stay home with the grandkids. The day began around 6:30 a.m. with a phone call that woke me up. Me: Hello? Tom: Hey. His breathing was shallow. He was having trouble speaking. Tom: I just wanted to let you know that I fell from the tree stand. I’ll do my best to make it back to the house. Me: Okay. Click. Yes. I was asleep. And then I woke up. Excuse me, WHAT? I went next door and told Amanda what had happened. She and Kayla were already getting ready to leave for Bluffton before 7:00, and when I walked over, Amanda assumed I was coming to watch the kids so they could head out. Instead, I told her Tom had fallen from his tree stand. She called Marcus. I told Kayla. Amanda and Kayla were ready to leave for Bluffton, but Tom had other plans for the morning. I got dressed, grabbed the UTV, and Amanda, Kayla, and I headed toward the area of our property where we knew Tom had been hunting. Marcus was out of town, so Emma was given instructions to keep an eye on the other kids while we went looking for Papa. We found him on the ground. What Had Happened Tom had a bow-hunting setup in a tree on our property that he had used for years. A ladder stand was positioned next to a climbing stand he had already installed. That morning, he climbed the ladder and stepped over onto the climbing stand. Then both cables holding the base of the stand broke. The platform collapsed beneath him like a trap door. Tom had not yet strapped himself in. He fell twenty feet straight down. He landed on his feet and then fell to the side. Later, he told us that when he hit the ground, he simply could not breathe. He tried to crawl, but he couldn’t. I still don’t know how he managed to make that phone call. Kayla and Amanda helped him get to his feet. I picked up his crossbow. They helped him into the UTV, and Amanda drove him back toward the house while Kayla and I followed on foot. Meanwhile, Marcus was coordinating everything from out of town. He called David, our closest neighbor, who had spent decades working in the fire department. David came over to check Tom and called the local hospital emergency room to let them know we were on our way. Marcus also called Andy, a family friend who lives nearby, and Andy came over ready to help. David and Andy managed to get Tom into the front seat of my car, and I drove him to the emergency room. Andy followed us so that when we arrived, he could help lift Tom out of the car and into a wheelchair. The medical staff took Tom back immediately while I completed the paperwork. By the time I was able to get back to him, he was in a hospital gown and neck brace with several medical professionals surrounding him. They handed me his clothes and wheeled him away for X-rays and scans. Eventually, he came back and was finally able to get some pain medication. At the hospital, the initial scans showed no obvious breaks or internal bleeding. At the time, that felt almost impossible. Tom had fallen twenty feet. And somehow, we were being told that nothing was broken. But that was not the end of the story. Later, after an MRI, we learned that Tom did in fact have a fractured vertebra. He had also bruised internal organs and suffered extensive soft tissue injuries. So while the first news at the emergency room was reassuring, the fall had done real damage. Not Broken Does Not Mean Not Hurt And even that heading turned out not to be entirely accurate. The injuries to Tom’s ankle, leg, hip, and back were significant, and the soft tissue damage has had lasting consequences. His ankle, leg, and hip will never be the same, and some of those injuries will likely plague him for the rest of his life. He spent two months away from work. There was rest. Rehab. Ice. Heat. And a permanent place for his right foot on top of the couch because his ankle needed to stay elevated. For a long time, that elevated foot became part of the furniture. And now it has been a year. He still hurts. That is perhaps the strangest part of looking back. Two years ago, Tom was training for two upcoming marathons. Now he is still healing from a fall that lasted only a few seconds. We are enormously thankful. Thankful the injuries were not worse. Thankful there was no catastrophic spinal injury. Thankful he was conscious. Thankful he could make that phone call. Thankful our family and friends immediately stepped in to help. And most of all, thankful to God for His protection over Tom that morning. We know how differently October 4, 2025, could have ended. We also believe God was merciful, that He preserved Tom’s life for a reason, and that He still has more for Tom to do. But gratitude does not mean pretending everything went back to normal. It didn’t. Some injuries heal. Some leave reminders. And healing takes time. Sometimes much more time than we expect. So today, October 4, 2026, we mark one year. Tom’s Alive Day. A day that reminds us both of how quickly life can change, how faithfully God protects, and how grateful we are that Tom came home. And we are looking forward to whatever God still has ahead for him.$
Alive Day
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