Court Date - Finally

    Monday was a very emotionally exhausting day.  We have been anticipating this day since the accident - and it has been rescheduled several different times.  We went to court in Rigby so the woman who hit us could be sentenced.  We had not seen her before then and it was kind of odd - you know how you picture someone in your mind and when you meet them in person it is usually not quite the same.  For some reason I had pictured her with blonde hair but it is really quite dark.  She had a look about her that said her life has not been an easy one.  She looked very tired.  Her story was changed from what we heard at the hospital.  Back in November we were told that she was going home from work after working all night.  They said that was why she was confused and got on the wrong side of the freeway.  Yesterday they said she was actually heading to her job, a new one in Rigby and she was unfamiliar with the area.  She missed the exit she was supposed to take so she took the next one to get back on the freeway.  They said it was very dark and the signs getting back to the highway were very very confusing.  They said she though highway 20 was a 2 lane highway.  The state attorney pretty much laughed at her.  The brought up the fact that highway 20 has been a 4 lane divided highway for the last 30 years and that she is from Idaho Falls - and the at she had just driven from Idaho Falls to Rigby and turned around and got back on the same highway she had just driven on.  The judge didn't believe her story either but his hands were tied because of what the charge was.  Our lawyer did bring up the fact that there was alcohol in her blood stream - not enough to be over the legal limit but enough so that it could have been a factor in the accident.  He also brought up that the blood test was done hours after the accident and implied that if it had been done at the scene of the accident she most likely would have been facing DUI charges.  Ultimately she plead guilty to inattentive driving.  As the judge was sentencing her he said that if she was confused when she got back on the road - and he wasn't sure that was the case - but if it was - any reasonable person would have realized they were going the wrong way. She was given 12 months of formal probation and 12 months of license suspension (although she can drive her kids to work and doctor stuff).  She also got the maxium fine for an inattentive driving charge of $300 plus court costs.   He then apologized to us saying that no matter what he did it wouldn't make our lives better - he said he wished he could rewind time and have it not happen at all.  He said he hoped there would be something good come from it eventually.  I hope so too.
     We were given the chance to talk at the trial - and tell how her actions have impacted our life.  Barry voted for me to be the one to do that.  We worked together to write it.  It was hard to read and keep my emotions under control - I was glad we had typed it up so I could just read it.  I also read it a couple of times out loud to Barry before we went - so that helped alot to be able to sound at least a little professional.  I will try to attach that those who would like to can read it  - and so others don't have to!   
     I have thought alot about Rebecca Weaver.  Not all of them have been kind or nice.  But the last few days I have been thinking about it from what her family's perspective might be.  I am sure her 3 teenage boys have been praying just as hard for the judge to have mercy on their mom as our family has been praying for things to go well for us.  When the judge said that nothing he could say or do would change things for us he was telling the truth.  If she was sent to jail or given the responsibility of all our bills it wouldn't change the way things are.  It wouldn't make the pain go away and it would probably cause great heartache for her family - probably worse emotional pain because it would be out of fear and sadness for their mom.  I am grateful for the blessing of being on the accident end of the accident - it would be harder to have been the one who caused it.