New priorities for Barbara

By Robert Macy

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS, Nev: --

Barbara Mandrell

Changing her outlook

Barbara

Mandrell gazed at the plush dressing room carpet, shifted in the

over- sized chair, and contemplated the question: "Was there ever a time,

after the accident, when you gave up; when you felt like you could

n't bounce back?" "Oh yeah," she said softly, weighing the inquiry.

"Oh yeah! I'd go to Rehearsal and I'd just start crying. There was pain,

physical pain. And suddenly there was stage fright -- something

I'd never known in all my years in show business."

Three years after a tragic car crash nearly took her life and put her career

on hold, Barbara Mandrell is bouncing back with her old

show biz pizzazz and a new set of Priorities. Her shift back into high

gear is a welcome relief for friends and family who worried

through anxious months following the September 1984 accident. Mandrell,

her son, Matthew, and daughter, Jamie, were injured

when a vehicle struck her car in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville.

The three had buckled seat belts moments before the crash –

a move she says saved their lives. The driver of the oncoming car was killed.

Reports at the time listed her as having a broken thigh bone

and Fractured knee. Family members skirted the fact she also suffered a

severe head injury and was in intensive care for several days.

The head and leg injuries kept her on an emotional elevator -- and off the stage –

for 18 months. One bright spot in her 18-month

recuperation was the birth of son Nathaniel in September 1985. "That was a real

blessing, and a Miracle,'' she said, eyes glistening.

Mandrell, 39, and her husband of 22 years, Ken Dudney, had been trying to have

a baby in the months before the accident.

What did the accident teach her? "We all say things like 'Life's too short.' I think

we say those things but we don't really believe them.

The Bible tells us we're not promised tomorrow, we're only promised today.

Tomorrow may not happen for us. So I treat every

day as something special -- live it, enjoy it. "Some of my priorities have changed.

I used to keep my family and my career on a

50-50 balance. Now my family and friends are so far above my career."

In her spare time she's starting on an autobiography,

tentatively titled "Never Say Never." Why the title?

"I got to looking at my life, and

all the major things I've done -- I've said

I'd never do, then I've done them. "Like the TV series

(in 1981 and 1982). I swore I'd never do one. But

I'm glad they talked me into it. It

afforded me the opportunity to reach a

great number of people (40 million viewers a week) that

I'd have never reached," she said. "I'm not a quitter and I'm not a loser."