Houston, We Have a Problem – NCEA 2013 Day One

Shuttle crash

On my first day in Houston for the 2013 NCEA convention, I expected to tell you all about the city, the conference center, and meeting Barb Gilman and Nancy Caramanico for the first time. But life seldom goes as we expect.

Leaving Seattle
The scene from the airplane as I left Seattle…

Barb and Nancy were involved in an automobile accident on their way from the Houston airport to the hotel. The shuttle van they were riding in struck a barrier in the road and flipped, crushing the roof and shattering the windshield. Their injuries weren’t life threatening, but they were shook up all the same.

Shuttle Crash
The scene of Barb and Nancy’s shuttle accident as I arrived in Houston…

The entire story is theirs to tell, so I won’t go into all the details. But after spending about four hours in the emergency room, they finally made it to the hotel where I got to meet them in person–bruises, blood, and all.

Thankfully their injuries weren’t worse. Suddenly the NCEA convention doesn’t seem as important as it did a few hours ago.