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A young man in his 20's that drove for the company I work for was in a very critical accident with his truck and sustained burns to over 90% of his body. That was a couple of weeks ago, and we are told he is stable at this time, but has a mountain to climb ahead of him. He is communicating with his family, and has had several surgeries already and has many more ahead of him. I have never met him, but still his family is encouraging cards be sent which they show him and read to him.
I am really struggling with a type of card to send. All I can think of is a "Thinking of You" type card, but cannot visualize a card front. I am really stumped with this one and want it to be special.
If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them.
Please keep him in your prayers as he has a long long road ahead of him.
Thank you
Guys are definately harder, and this is a tough situation. I am thinking trees, cars, animals. If he has a place to set them, I would make some that stand up like a step or shadow box card. I am sure that whatever you do will be appreciated. Good luck.
Guys are definately harder, and this is a tough situation. I am thinking trees, cars, animals. If he has a place to set them, I would make some that stand up like a step or shadow box card. I am sure that whatever you do will be appreciated. Good luck.
Thanks Polly, that is my struggle I think ...because it is for a young man. If it was for a girl, it would be a lot easier. He is only 27 so I don't want something that looks like it is for an elderly man.
That is a tough one. I am thinking something to make him smile maybe a whimsical look to it. Do you have any of the changito monkey stamps? There is one where he is hanging from a tree limb. (Hang in there, thinking of you).
I have a past co-worker who had the lower half of his leg amputated and am struggling with a card for him too.
That is a tough one. I am thinking something to make him smile maybe a whimsical look to it. Do you have any of the changito monkey stamps? There is one where he is hanging from a tree limb. (Hang in there, thinking of you).
I have a past co-worker who had the lower half of his leg amputated and am struggling with a card for him too.
Thank you for the suggestion Sarah, but I have to admit that I am a little unsure of going in that direction for fear that I am being non-chalant about his injuries. Especially since I have never met him. Do you know what I mean?
My prayers are with your co-worker. How sad. If you don't have any scenery stamps, maybe just a nice geometric design in shade of blues or greens with the sentiment in the middle using a shaped punch or die and popping it up with foam dots.
Mary Beth
Marilynn, that was my initial thought - a truck. He was driving a tractor trailer rig when the accident happened. But then I thought that might be the last thing him and his family would want to see.
Maybe I am over-analysing this situation, I don't know.
I want to gently disagree. I wouldn't use a truck image, since that was involved in his accident and terrible injuries. He and the family might not want to be reminded right now.
I think I would stick with something very simple. Maybe just nice muted masculine colors, Cuttlebug embossing if you have it, and a Thinking of You sentiment.
It really is the thought that counts here. I've sent many cards when people were severely injured or ill. The chances are that he will be medicated for quite a while and not actually opening or looking at mail. I would focus on something the family can appreciate on his behalf right now.
Also, try to keep the future in mind. When there is a tragic accident like this, everyone rallies around at first, but recovery can be long, and I've found cards are really appreciated during the long haul afterward, too.
My thoughts are with this young man and his family. My dad was horribly burned years ago when a hot water heater exploded. He survived, but barely. It was a truly hard time for our family.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I want to gently disagree. I wouldn't use a truck image, since that was involved in his accident and terrible injuries. He and the family might not want to be reminded right now.
I think I would stick with something very simple. Maybe just nice muted masculine colors, Cuttlebug embossing if you have it, and a Thinking of You sentiment.
It really is the thought that counts here. I've sent many cards when people were severely injured or ill. The chances are that he will be medicated for quite a while and not actually opening or looking at mail. I would focus on something the family can appreciate on his behalf right now.
Also, try to keep the future in mind. When there is a tragic accident like this, everyone rallies around at first, but recovery can be long, and I've found cards are really appreciated during the long haul afterward, too.
My thoughts are with this young man and his family. My dad was horribly burned years ago when a hot water heater exploded. He survived, but barely. It was a truly hard time for our family.
Bugga, my heart goes out to you for your Dad, but I was just sitting here contemplating the embossing idea and I think I like it. I will put some thought into that direction.
Bugga, my heart goes out to you for your Dad, but I was just sitting here contemplating the embossing idea and I think I like it. I will put some thought into that direction.
Not to hijack your thread...thanks for your thoughts. My dad has been gone for quite a few years now, but he finally recovered and had some good years after the accident.
I still remember it all very vividly of course. I was actually watching the local news at the time, and that's how I found out about the explosion. They were showing the burning house and interviewing two nurses who just happened to be driving by right when it happened. I thought, Oh my god, that's my dad's place! I called the TV station and found which hospital they had taken him to.
It really was divine intervention that the nurses were there. They found my dad standing in the yard and immediately ran the garden hose on him and administered first aid. The medics said they probably saved his life.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
Since you don't know the young man, I wouldn't use a truck or scene or anything specific.
I would just use a non-discript image like die cut swirls or a stamp like that. I would also just put on the front.....Thinking of You. I also wouldn't say anything like Get Well.
The card would be very different if you knew the guy personally.
Thank you ladies, and Bugga, you did not hijack the thread. I love hearing other people's stories, even the bad ones. It is funny, but the morning that our accident happened, I did the same thing as you. I was watching the news berore I went to work, and thinking that poor driver, I hope he is going to survive. Not realizing it was our driver, because the truck was burned to the ground and couldn't be identified.
I have some ideas now, and I think calm is the way to go.
Thank you to the ladies who took the time to reply. There really are some angels on this site, and you always come through for the rest of us.
Lori
My heart goes out to this young man and his family. Sometimes I shop in card stores just to find ideas that inspire cards for these type of situations. When my son was sixteen he broke both lower legs in a motorcycle accident. It meant so very much to our family to those card senders who wrote every week and to those who kept praying for his recovery - which he did. I will pray for this young man for his recovery. Jeanne
My heart goes out to this young man and his family. Sometimes I shop in card stores just to find ideas that inspire cards for these type of situations. When my son was sixteen he broke both lower legs in a motorcycle accident. It meant so very much to our family to those card senders who wrote every week and to those who kept praying for his recovery - which he did. I will pray for this young man for his recovery. Jeanne
Thank you Jeanne. I know he can use all the prayers he can get. I am glad your son has recovered. That is a great idea to peruse the card stores for those tough cards.
ANYTHING you send will be greatly appreciated. It is not so much the card design as it is the thought that counts.
{I can speak from personal experience. My oldest daughter was in a car accident when she was 16, she was trapped in the car which caught fire, she suffered 2nd & 3rd degree burns over 50% of her body. It was a very long painful recovery. She is 31 now and was recently diagnosed with MS. She has been through a lot and is staying strong}
When she was in the hospital after the car accident it was so overwhelming. What touched us the most was the out pouring of kindness from everyone. She was so touched that someone she didn't know would take the time to send her a card, it really made her day. She would look forward to getting the mail everyday.
I will keep the young man and his family in my prayers.
Thank you Peggy for sharing your story. It is always the little things that mean a lot. Your daughter sounds like a tough cookie. I will keep her in my prayers.
Your family is very brave, Crazy-Crafter, to face this new challenge. Your daughter must be a very special person, and I will pray for her as well. Jeanne
How about something with fish? Or, you could just stamp or die cut different-sized circles and randomly place them on the card front along with a "thoughts of you" sentiment.
So sorry for this young man. I like using SU Lovely As A Tree for masculine cards in earthy colors, especially the large oak tree. Thinking of you or just For You are nice sentiments on most cards especially when you don't know the person well.
So sorry for this young man. I like using SU Lovely As A Tree for masculine cards in earthy colors, especially the large oak tree. Thinking of you or just For You are nice sentiments on most cards especially when you don't know the person well.
You know Bev, that is the set that I pulled out too, but in the end, I decided to do something with the Foliage Spellbinders set. It came out very masculine with the colours I used, and am verry happy with it. But isn't Lovely as a Tree so versatile. It is just one of those sets.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to help me and share your stories.
You are a wonderful group on this site. Thank you again.
Such a sad story. I would definitely not go with a truck theme.
I agree Lorraine, that was out and so was a funny card. Just could not bring myself to send something funny to someone going through that torment right now.
I have used duct tape, blue masking tape, and black electrical tape on my "man" cards.
Also, the images like a cat hanging by it's paws from a branch with "Hang In There" as sentiment would be encouraging without being girly. I know there are several like that out there.
Ladies, please help me with this one.
