Reed Smith: One Tough Hombre!

by Pa Rock
Determined Uncle

My nephew, Reed Smith, is holding steady at Northwestern Hospital in Amarillo, Texas. Reed is in the second day of a medically induced coma and on a ventilator. He should begin the process of awakening in a couple of days.

Reed was critically injured in a bad car wreck outside of Perryton, Texas, on New Year's Eve. His father, Robert Edward (Bob) Smith, the driver of the car, was killed instantly in that wreck, as was Bob's cousin, Bobby Jack Short. Reed's girlfriend, Jamie Carey, was also a passenger in the car. Jamie managed to survive the accident with only minor injuries. She has been at Reed's bedside since being released from the hospital at Perryton yesterday.

Reed and Jamie live in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had been in Noel several days for the funeral of my father and Reed's grandfather, Garland Macy. Bob and Bobby Jack were driving them back to Las Vegas at the time of the accident.

Gail and I raised our families at approximately the same time, and we neither one had much in the way of spare time to focus on each other's kids. We also never lived very near to one another. By the time I reached a point where I did have some time to spare, Reed was the only one left at home - and he became my little buddy. We went to movies together, and he spent some time working on my farm. I remember one day when he was in high school and we were doing cement work down the hillside by the pond. The process involved moving some eighty-pound sacks of cement down the hill. I strained and grunted to lift one up onto my shoulder and headed off. When I got to the pond, I turned around to check on Reed, and he was right behind me with a sack of cement on each shoulder! He only did it once, though!

When Reed graduated from high school in Prairie Grove, my dad was unable to attend - it was an evening ceremony and he seldom went any place after dark - and he may have been ill. I took his graduation card to Reed, a card that also contained a check for $500. When I handed it to Reed, I told him, "Your Granddad said to spend all of that on beer." He took a look at the check, grinned, and said, "That could be done!"

Gail and I met in Las Vegas last February to visit Reed. It was while we were there that we met Jamie Carey, who was his new girlfriend at the time. We were impressed then, and the longer that we have known her the more impressed we are. Jamie's parents and their spouses and her brother and sister are all at the hospital with us. They are a great bunch of folks!

Reed is a life-long athlete and very physically fit. He also has a strong competitive spirit. Jamie told me that his flag football team in Las Vegas was undefeated this year and won their championship. She added, "There wasn't much 'flag' about it!" That sounds like Reed!

Bob Smith and my sister Gail were the parents of four of the best young people that anyone could ever hope to meet or emulate. They are, in order of birth, Heidi Pfetcher, Tiffany Burke, Justin Smith, and Reed. All are here in Amarillo supporting each other and their mother as we wait and worry over Reed.

Bob and Gail divorced several years ago after three decades of marriage. They remained friends - in fact, one of their kids told me that they were probably better friends after the divorce than they had been before. Gail and I had dinner together on New Year's Eve - before the accident - and talked about her relationship with Bob and his dedication to their children. She said that any time one of the children needed money, Bob was there, and that he had even given her money after the divorce when he knew that she was in need.

I always considered Bob Smith to be a good friend. He sat with the family at my dad's funeral, and was at our house in Noel much of that week. He was constantly accompanied by his French bulldog, Boom, a faithful companion who never left Bob's side. Sadly, Boom was also killed in the wreck. Bob and I had a nice visit Wednesday evening after Dad's funeral and burial. He knew that Gail and I had inherited some money from our father, and he told me, quite sincerely, that he was so glad that Gail would finally be able to quit working so much overtime.

Bob's mother, Lucy Smith, passed away last summer after a long illness. He stayed with his mother and took care of her while she was ailing. Lucy was an institution of legendary proportions in Southwest City, Missouri, having worked at the Cornerstone Bank for over half a century. The Smith's were a founding family of that small community.

Bobby Jack Short, Bob's cousin who also died in the wreck, was a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was the younger brother of Dan Short, the President of the State Bank of Noel who was murdered by the Agofsky brothers after they robbed the bank nearly twenty years ago.

Reed does not yet know that his father died in the wreck.

We mourn the passing of Bob Smith and Bobby Jack Short, but our grief over their passing is being held in check right now as we continue to hover around Reed with hope and prayer for his complete recovery. Reed is a tough, really tough guy, and he will make it! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.