The Survivors

I know it's not a great photo, but what it signifies is incalculable.

I decided to play hooky from work on Friday, seeing as it was the first nice day we'd had in a while. I had a great day with the Art Director and our kids. I also started to prepare the stock for a soup I was going to make for 25 guests at my mother's 80th birthday party.

At about 7 o'clock I got a call from an off duty Garda to tell me that my parents had been in a crash while they drove from Galway to Dublin for the party. I ended up driving to the scene and then on to Mullingar Regional Hospital where they had been taken by ambulance.

Even though I had spoken to both on the phone, I had also seen the car on the tow truck and was extremely worried for them. Thankfully their injuries were relatively minor and I took this photo with my phone to send to my siblings to let them see that Mum and Dad were ok.

I am fully convinced that their seatbelts and air bags saved their lives.

The party was deferred for 24 hours. The soup went down a treat. I still haven't slept properly.