It can all change in an instant

If you are on this website right now you have probably been following the story of Michael Hubbard a 14 year old Riverhead boy who was very badly burned the other day in an accident involving a heating canister. Michael is at Stony Brook University Hospital’s burn unit. He is in very serious condition but “holding his own”. Michael’s mother Nancy Reyer was also badly burned attempting to assist Michael. You may know Nancy as the former chair of the Republican Party in Riverhead. She is also in serious condition but able to be at Michael’s bedside.

I am very familiar with this kind of tragedy. About 17 years ago I got a fateful phone call that my daughter Courtney was very badly burned. She also was taken to Stony Brook Hospital. She also had an “iffy” prognosis. There is something gut-wrenching and horrible about seeing your child helpless and knowing that just hours ago they were happy, innocent and at play. Perhaps, just as bad as the hospital stay, is the recovery, which is, slow, painful, long and arduous, as life becomes a series of creams, gels, ointments, burn garments and baths. For quite some time you get to relive the horror of that life-altering day.

As a parent, the horror and helplessness never really leaves you. All these years later I try to hold Courtney’s hand tight when we cross the street, I call constantly to check up on her, I worry when she travels and over every little thing she does. She is 19, so Dad is just a silly, overly cautious guy. Maybe she’ll understand when she has children. Nancy and the Hubbard family will go through this too.

Even if you don’t pray, at least remember in your thoughts, Michael and Nancy. Hope for their rapid and complete recovery. In the coming days there will be information released about how you can contribute to Michael and Nancy’s healing. I believe this community should come together, as only it can, to show what good neighbors are all about.

Today, it is Michael and Nancy dealing with tragedy, tomorrow it could be any one of us. Let’s show the Reyer and Hubbard families that this community is good and that it cares.

Finally, in your own home, know that all of us need to appreciate the joy of our children, our friends and our loved ones while we have it, because, as this terrible event illustrates, it can all change in a moment. Whether, they are in your living room, away at college or across the sea, hug your children and let them know how much you love them because tomorrow it could all be different.