posted by Sandy Fails 2 comments

About a week and a half ago, Madi, a sparkly 19-year-old and phenomenal skier, had an accident while flying down the International ski run and crashed into a grove of trees. She suffered severe injuries, breaking both femurs, her tibia, fibula and shoulder... and the after-effects of the trauma began to challenge her lungs and other organs as well. She was flown to the hospital in Grand Junction and eventually to Seattle to receive the care of a well-known specialist. You can read updates as posted by her family and friends at www.caringbridge.org/visit/maddisongarcia.

While for Madi and her family, normal life gives way to a foreign world of medical terms and procedures, Crested Butte is doing what it does best... loving them. Prayers and expressions of love are flying as thick as the dense snow that's swirling outside right now (the analogy makes me feel more kindly toward this April storm).

Reading the "guestbook" messages on the Caring Bridge site, written by people from every corner of our community, brings tears to my eyes -- both for the pain endured by Madi and her family and for the purity of the love that can come from the hearts in our community.

What if we could consistently tap into that caring place with each other, even without a crisis to remind us how precious our relationships are? What if we could have affection and respect for each other even when we're voicing different opinions on issues that are important to us?

I recently read an article in the New York Times about happiness. Studies show that the tie between happiness and wealth (beyond a certain pay-the-bills level) is tenuous; happiness correlates much more strongly with the quality of our relationships. Perhaps Crested Butte has an edge in the happiness realm, because we seem to be better at community than at wealth accumulation. Especially when our neighbors get blindsided by a crisis like Madi's injuries, that priority holds true.

So I'll add my loving wishes for Madi and her family; please add yours.

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