Last night, after a long and happy day spent with my parents, we headed home. 14 y.o. daughter was in the front seat next to me and 8 y.o. son was sleepily relaxing in the back. On the way to mom and dad’s that morning I noticed that the traffic heading in the opposite direction on the highway was at a dead stop. Parking lot type of thing. I remember hoping that things would be cleared up by the time we made our return trip.:dubious:
Anywho, there we are, humming along at a brisk 70. We top a small rise and BAM - a sea of red brake lights ahead. There’s not much room to stop without hitting the woman in front of me, so I swerve to my left, into the highway shoulder thingie, and am able to stop there. I’m now off to the far left, several cars in front of the one I almost smushed. Safety zone.
The car behind me loses control and is swerving all over the place. They lose the battle and there is a horrific crash. I can see all of this in my rearview mirror and am yelling “whoa WHOA WHOA STOP oh no!” etc.:eek:
I don’t think they are doing too well in that car, by the looks of it. I debate the insanity of trying to help somehow. It’s dark and the people coming up to this scene will be going from veryfast to ohmygodSTOPRIGHTNOW. Not a good place to get out of the car. Reluctantly, I continue driving, and a few minutes later hear the ambulance.
I think d.d. and I would have escaped serious injury, being in the front seat. My son in the back seat wouldn’t have been so lucky.
Shaking like a leaf, I made my way home. Now I keep thinking about the whole fate thing. You know, all of the different twists and turns that bring you to where you are right now. The job you have, or don’t have. Your field of study. Your life partner, and how you met. The life-changing car accident you have, or just barely escape.
You see, about two months ago my boy just missed being hit by a car. It came within inches of running him over. It was an SUV - he wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell. The breeze from this vehicle messed up his hair. He had a little smudge of dirt on his cheek. That was the only mark on him.
I will be grateful for the rest of my life to the fate (or whatever you call it) that has spared him, and us. He has a cold today, and is right here with me playing with the new Lego set he got yesterday. Every now and again I help him put something together. He hums happily. When this whatever-it-is is put together, he will make those boy noises that I love. You know, pretend explosions and car engine noises and so on.
Ok. Time to wipe my eyes and go do some laundry. And so it goes…