All I was going to post this week was: I am (happily)
spending the week in Northern Michigan with family and I hope you all have a
wonderful holiday and time with loved ones.
Then, we almost got in a horrible car wreck on the way up
here. So now I have a little more
I’d like to say.
I’m not sure why it takes those near-miss events in our life
to shake us up, but boy, was I shaken to the core on Saturday.
We were heading north on the highway when we noticed traffic
had come to a stand-still up ahead (it looked to be construction-related). Vinny made the quick decision to pull
off to the shoulder of the exit ramp we were passing. We were going to consult our map and see if it made more
sense to get off the highway and find a way around the back-up.
It wasn’t ten seconds later that two cars barreled past us
at top speed, neither of them seeming to notice the back-up just ahead. My stomach lurched.
I watched in horror as the two cars slammed into the stopped
traffic. Of course, because the
two morons in those cars hadn’t slowed down, neither had some of the cars
behind them. Soon, there were cars
crashing into each other, flying off onto the median and the shoulder of the
highway, with approaching cars flying off the road to avoid the oncoming
mess. It was something you’d see
in a movie for sure, except this time it was real.
Partway through all of this Vinny decided we needed to get
moving down the exit ramp to remain safe, so we did. I have no idea how much worse the scene became. The event was already seared into my
brain.
For the next couple hours I felt sick to my stomach. I was shaky. I couldn’t look at the kids without becoming teary. What would have happened if that had
been us? Then I couldn’t stop thinking, “Well, who was in those
cars? Did they have small
children, too? Was everyone okay?” A thousand nightmare scenarios raced
through my mind.
This much is certain: if Vinny hadn’t made that
split-second decision we would have been rear ended at high speed.
So when I say we were almost in a horrible car wreck, suddenly the word “almost” becomes so much
more meaningful than it ever has before. Especially when I go on to consider that I was almost the one driving and I am almost certain that I wouldn't have had the quick wit to pull off the highway.
And it’s not surprising that my initial thought in all of
this was, “the kids.” Not that I
wouldn’t be concerned about what might have happened to Vinny or I, but... it’s
like that doesn’t even register anymore.
No, the instinctual response is always, “the kids!”
So much of it is the fact that I have no control over their
wellbeing in instances like that.
And no matter what, I would have felt guilty on some level, even though
it would have been no fault of our own.
I would have felt like I needed to do a better job to protect my
chickens.
But all this is for naught, right? We weren’t in that accident, someone else was. We continued on our journey safely,
albeit shaken. For the rest of the
day (and beyond) I thought about how our lives could have drastically changed
in that one instant. It’s scary to
think that way.
And on many levels, pointless. Horrible things could happen any second of any day. Thankfully they almost never do (notice
that word almost again). It’s just
that sometimes, the balance tips, the almost disappears, and you are left with
the aftermath of whatever that almost didn’t prevent.
On this day we were spared. I could not be more thankful, grateful … relieved. But then I have to remember that
someone else was not so lucky, so then I pull my family closer. I hug them harder. Look at them longer. Linger in the little moments that
happen every day, but that I sometimes lose sight of because days are long, I
get tired, and it’s all I can do to make it until bedtime.
So what began as a short “have a good week” post has morphed
into something much more meaningful for me.
How often are we bombarded with the “don’t take life for granted” “live
life to its fullest” “don’t forget to tell your loved ones how much you love
them” sentiments? Sometimes we
take these credos to heart. Most times we don’t. It’s
easy to nod along, yeah, yeah, yeah, and then go about our day.
I don’t often make requests here. Who am I to tell you to do anything? Well, I’m going to do it anyways.
When you are done reading this post please walk over to or
phone someone you love dearly and give them a squeeze or a kind word of love or
a statement of gratitude. Feel
that moment with all your heart.
Then have a nice holiday ;)
