it was a chilly November night i remember sitting watching TV i really don't remember what the show was i was just zoning out like any other 6 year old kid would on a Friday night, something that about that night felt off my mom asked me what i wanted to be when i grow up she then asked me a strange question “Cleveland what has dad taught you in life” so i responded my what kinda question is that and again she said “Cleveland what do you think dad has taught you in life” at that time i didn't know what she was trying to get at so i told her “dad taught me self respect,respect for others, and if you work hard you play just as hard my mom wearing her jeans and and an old navy jacket bent down and hugged me and started crying she said “we need to go right now” i stood in the everlasting hallway way with a puzzled look while i felt like a part of me had just died i started seeing red i couldn't put it together what my mom just said “it didn't make any sense how could this happen to my family why did this happen we go to church every Sunday we worship our god how just how could this happen to us”.
my dad had just hit a 300 pound deer the in the middle of the empty highway around 11:50 pm returning from dropping off my grandparents at the Detroit airport,going 75 on his way home in the pitch black November night an enormous beast leaped out in front of the glossy black envoy a smashing and twisting the black metal into useless scrap beautiful cluster of glass and blood swirl in the air in slow motion at the same moment the seat belt locked and his forehead hit the steering wheel no airbag went off that night.for about 15 minutes he sat there dazed and confused barely awake barely alive. the deer laid gracefully on the engine block with his 10 point  antlers piercing the hood and penetrating through the windshield next to my dads head a Walmart semi truck had witnessed the whole event and called the police ,when the ambulance finally showed up he was passed out they rushed him as fast as they could he didn't wake up for 17 hours, so for 17 hours he layed on his hospital bed i had no idea at that moment what happened to him i was feeling the same as a kid who lost his mom at a mall but no one could help that lost kid. i remember a part of the conversation my mom had with the doctor my mom asked the typical question “how is he” the doctor responded “hes in a critical state and he could progressively get worse” that was one of the worst things to hear from the doctors, did a lot of surgeries on him from stitching to a shoulder repair after they allowed us back in the room with him i sat there next to my father until he awakened, the next morning i woke up in my chair to find my dad awake the excitement and joy in a little 6 year old when he finds out his dad can wake up is unbelievable due to the fact he hit his head on the steering wheel he unfortunately couldn't speak i tried asking him “what happened to you dad” the only response i got back was “grrmmmmhhhh” he didn't know how to speak he didn't know how to walk or even how to eat  i showed him how to do everything i was inspiration for getting better and to heal for the next year.
after a few weeks in the hospital he returned home still speechless i overheard my mom again sitting on our brown reclining couches talking to the doctor and he said “your husband is going to be like this the rest of his life and were sorry for your family miss Talbot there is nothing more we can do the only way for him to recover is to heal over time which is highly unlikely” that day he had a seizure for 20 minutes my mom and i rushed him to the hospital to be diagnosed they kept him there for a few more weeks for testing i didn't see him for that time period and i thought about all the things i had learned from him i grew up in a very privileged household that was all about respect and effort that's the main values that he tried to teach us before this accident.
at the end of the year he was able to say one word sentences like a 2 year old saying mamma or papa. one day he came up to me and said “you” then he lost what he was saying moths later he started speaking in sentences and he came up to me again  and said “you are my inspiration” i gave him the warmest hug from the bottom of my heart  i knew all of the life values that he tried to teach me all these things I've tried to explain to explain to my mom. i was to be humble for you do not know what you will have the next day,take charge of your life be in control and do everything to your best ability because if you were to die tomorrow would you have lived a full life knowing that there's not one thing you would want to change even the most severe things in life can't stop you if you're humble,respectful, willing,  and determined to not let it stop you just ask my dad he went back to the doctors that told him he would never be the same he proved them wrong and from now on the doctors tell his miracle healing story to all their patients for inspiration.