Roop recovering in Denver after collision
April 11, 2014
BJ Roop, 63, Naples, traveled to Denver in late March to visit family for a few weeks, but after shattering both ankles in a vehicle collision March 31, the visit there will instead be for unplanned months, time that will pass much more quickly with well wishes from friends here at home.

While she didn't provide details on the accident, which happened within a few days of her arrival in Denver, BJ remains as irrepressible as ever.

"I'm alive!" she posted on Facebook April 2 from the Littleton, Colorado, hospital, posting the above picture. While she underwent two surgeries and has endured tremendous pain, she praises God that her granddaughter escaped the crash with only scratches and scrapes.

"Well ... exactly 7 days ... 1 hour and 10 mins ago ,,, my life to a sharp turn into a totally different world ... 7 days so far in the Littleton hospital ... 2 major bone surgeries," she posted April 7. "You know the saying ...'boy that's going to hurt in the morning.' Yep, had a bit of a rough night of it."

"Well, apparently I owe my family another apology," she Facebooked a day later from her daughter's home. "They've been hinting I might have developed a slight tendency to snore!"

According to BJ's daughter, Trish Embry, also of Naples, Mom will remain with family in Denver for at least two more months, and will likely be in a wheelchair for six to eight months at least.

"We will get her back when they let her and when we get ramps on her place, "she said.

While she's in considerable pain and often woozy from medication, BJ is keeping a positive attitude, taking time for introspection and worrying more about others than she is about herself.

"They say it is not the things that happen to us in life that decide who we are," BJ wrote. "It is what we do with that and how we learn from it and us that knowledge that make that decision. I have no idea what I am to learn from this ... or how long it will take to figure it out ... but I will hang in there and with Heavenly Father's help I will see it through and be stronger for it. I just pray that it doesn't mess up my family."

Prayers from family and friends, Trish said, are a source of comfort and strength for her mother, and visiting with friends, even at long distance through Facebook, has helped her pass the days she has to spend immobile, something very hard on a woman who's normally a human dynamo.

Those who'd like to help keep her company can find BJ on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bj.roops. Those who'd like to brighten her days with cards or flowers while she's recuperating can message Trish at www.facebook.com/trish.roopembry and she'll give you BJ's current address.