 Ann
comes from a small family. Her mom and dad, Ernest and Lillie
Sanders,
had three children: the oldest child, Curtis, died at the age
of 3,
Lavern
who is 12 years older than Ann, and Ann was the youngest in the family
until Lavern's only daughter, Scarlett Ann was born. Ann has
no children,
so Scarlett is the only grandchild and is also Ann's only
niece.
The resemblance between aunt and niece is unmistakable!
Two days before
Thanksgiving 2000, Scarlett was
involved in a serious automobile accident in Illinois on her way to
visit
her in-laws for the holiday. At the time, she was a very
successful
36-year old business woman in Atlanta. Known all over the
Atlanta
area, Scarlett was a well-respected sales manager for Pulte Homes,
managing
over 30 sales people and winning every award imaginable in the
field.
Scarlett sustained a
severe brain injury in the
accident--at the time, the worst the doctors said they'd
seen. Her
mom and dad rushed to Northern Illinois to be with their only daughter
as Ann received the news at her home in Nashville. In the
midst of
preparing to go to the family farm in Mississippi for the holiday, she
began to try to contact a few friends, but with the Thanksgiving
holidays,
everyone she tried to reach was out of pocket and
unreachable. So,
she sat down at her computer and composed a short note to her online
newsletter
group, the fANNtastics, asking them to pray for Scarlett, for
Scarlett's  mom
and dad, and for her. Within 10 minutes, she received
around
50 emails
of encouragement and prayer and a much needed "support group" was
born.
For over three months,
this online newsletter group remained in contact
with Ann, receiving daily updates on Scarlett's condition and
continuing
to pray and
email their thoughts and prayers to Ann and the family.
Thanksgiving Day, Ann
headed to Northern Illinois.
At first they were told that Scarlett might not survive...then that she
might not come out of the coma, then she would probably never be able
to
eat or walk again, etc. It's been a long, difficult, painful
journey,
but 8 years later, we're happy to report that Scarlett did survive,
she did come out of the coma, and although she was on a feeding tube
for
a year, she's now eating anything she wants. She also walks
regularly
on a treadmill at home & around the circle in their
subdivision, &
has recently started exercising at Curves. The diversity and
wealth
of information she can recall, even now, is mind boggling...information
most of us never knew in the first place!
 Needless
to say, the accident ripped her life apart & she's not been
able to
return to the work she loved. Although she faces many challenges with
short
term memory, her quick wit, winning smile and sweet spirit invariably
endear
her to those who meet her at Ann's concerts. Of course,
seeing how
her Aunt Ann loves her so kinda helps too! The journey
through her
recovery has been marked with one miracle after another and the
"fANNtastics"
have continued to play an important "supporting role" in that process.
Scarlett has an amazing
attitude despite her circumstances,
talking frequently about her desire to help someone else through her
struggles.
She's been able to do that in various ways. Ann hears from
fANNtastics
all the time through email and at concerts how Scarlett's strength and
courage has encouraged them to go on in the midst of their own painful
circumstances.
About three months after
her accident, the family
gathered at Scarlett's house to celebrate Ann's mama's 90th
birthday.
At this point, Scarlett couldn't complete a sentence because she
couldn't
remember how she started it. Her mind was foggy in knowing
much of
what was going on. As they prayed and thanked God for "mamma"
and
then that Scarlett was still with them, Scarlett was asked if she'd
liked
to pray. Very clearly, she replied, "yes, I would."
Without
missing a single word, Scarlett simply said, "Oh God, please stay close
to
me.
I'm really scared and I need you to be close." It's notable
that
she didn't ask "why"...or say "this is not fair"...she didn't even ask
God to heal her. She just asked for Him.
After
returning home,
talk began of that prayer
being written into a song. Thus far, Scarlett's prayer has
spawned
two songs that Ann's included on two of her
projects.
Those two
songs are usually the two most people come away from Ann's concerts
asking
for: "Tell Me Again" (the title song for Ann's live video and
CD
project, dedicated to her "Sweet Scarlett") and "Stay Close To Me"
(included
on Ann's CD "God Looking In").
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