You never know when tragedy is going to hit. There’s just no preparing for it.

The day starts like any other day. You go through your morning routines, do whatever you need to do to get the day started. There’s no foreshadowing of what is to come, no hint that your lives are going to be changed forever, changed in drastic ways that you could not even fathom when the day had begun so innocently enough.

In the back of our minds, I think we all harbor some fear that something could happen to our loved ones any given day. But as the days morph into months and then into years of being together, celebrating birthdays and milestones, as the kids start growing and maturing into teenagers, those fears get pushed farther and farther back into the darkest corners of our minds.

We see our kids maturing, and we start getting a sense of the persons they are growing into, developing physically, emotionally and intellectually.

At the same time, it’s fun to see them progress as dancers. In their teen years, they have their own ideas as to how they want to dance, they start having input into their choreography, they start mastering the skills that inspired them in previous years.

And that’s where they were that day. They leave the dance school to come home, just as they’ve done hundreds of times, thousands of times, over the years. But the oldest has a driver’s license now, so she’s able to drive her and her brother home. No biggie. It’s all part of the daily routine.

And then it isn’t.

And then everything changes. it all changes in a way that none of us are ever prepared for.

A driver loses control of their speeding car. The car crosses over onto the other side of the road, right into the path of an oncoming car. The car with your kids in it. And it happens too fast, too unexpectedly, and there’s nothing they can do to avoid the car hurtling at them.

That’s what happened on Dec. 7 to the Miranda family of Pingree Grove, IL.

It was a really bad accident. Sadly, the driver of the other car passed away at the scene.

Fortunately, Raechelle 18, and Raiden, 11, were wearing their seatbelts, and their parents are grateful that they survived. Although Raechelle endured many injuries, she is fighting hard.

Raiden has also been through multiple surgeries but is in good spirits.

While this is not how a family wants to spend their Christmas, especially with both of them being at different hospitals, their family and friends are so grateful they were able to survive such a horrific accident.

My Christmas wish this year is for everyone to help this family out. You can do it one of two ways.

One is to donate directly to their GoFundMe account.

The other is to purchase a 12.5 x 15-inch 2024 wall calendar by Ron McKinney Photography for $45. Once all printing costs are covered, 100% of donations will go directly to the Miranda family.

Purchase the Calendar by clicking here.