MIracles

September 7, 2007

So, It's 6:55 am. I'm getting ready to drop the kids at school and head down to the temple for the morning and Eric calls and calmly says, "I've had a bit of an accident, you'll need to come get me." At this point in time, I'm in the middle of 4 different things, and Eric has had a few fender benders, so I calmly find out his location (the split between 495 and 95) then reply, "Okay, it will be about 40 minutes. " I'm seriously thinking that it's no big deal at this point. I mean, it wasn't the police who called or anything. As I continue on my well-ordered way out the door, my brain catches up and it occurs to me that MY HUSBAND HAS BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT. So I call back and, a little less calmly ask, "Are you okay?" He replies, just as calm as a summer's morn, "Oh, absolutely." My brain clicks over another gear or two and I comment, trying to sound casual, "But the truck is undriveable." His cool demeanor finally cracks the teeniest bit and he pauses and says, "Uh, well, actually, the truck is upside down." Not calmly at all I exclaim, "UPSIDE DOWN!?" He replies cheerfully, as if discussing the weather, "Yeah, but the EMT's checked me out and I'm free to go." I immediately realize that I will have to freak out for both of us since Eric is incapable of getting ruffled but I know it would be wasted on him so this time I exclaim only to myself: "THE TRUCK IS UPSIDE DOWN BY THE SIDE OF 95 IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC AND AN AMBULANCE HAD TO COME. AGHHHH!" After that brief, silent-but-very-effective mental breakdown, I shift into my cool, efficient crisis mode, am able to calmly explain to the kids what is going on, assure them that their dad was okay (because they had heard my less than calm exclamation about the direction of the car), and get them off to school. I get some gas (because, I coolly and efficiently realize, if I run out of gas, Eric will be unable to come get me) and commence to head south on 95, thinking about absolutely nothing. In crisis mode, my brain tends to hyperfocus on the task at hand. However, sitting in the traffic jam that his accident had caused, watching the helicopters circling overhead and talking to Eric on the phone as he described fishtailing, skidding sideways across several lanes of rush hour traffic and then turning over, my calmness fled and I have pretty much been a quivery, weepy mess ever since as the "what could have happened" scenarios refuse to leave my brain.

I know it must have been incredibly dramatic to see a 4-ton, 18-foot long truck go crazy like that because Eric said that a nurse who immediately pulled over to help proclaimed his survival a miracle. The other miracle is that only one other car was hit, but the driver was uninjured. Okay, I'm crying again just writing about it. I know it was a miracle. There are many blessings to make note of, such as the fact that he was wearing his seatbelt, that the impact was not hard enough to set off the airbag, that the truck probably won't be totaled, that we carry stinkin' good insurance on that behemoth because it is so big and expensive so we only have a 100 dollar deductable, that he was not going very fast, and again and again, that no one was injured. Thank goodness he and the other driver (and the 40 other people who could have been in his path) are all okay. I'm overwhelmed thinking about it. This on top of the other challenges that have knocked into our family in the last week has me feeling pretty fragile and drained. I know that everything will be okay, but that doesn't make these moments of extreme emotion any easier.

He is indeed perfectly fine, other than that he'll likely be very sore tomorrow. In true Eric form, he had me drop him off at the train station in Laurel so he could go into work as if nothing had happened. I so admire his resiliance. At that point in time, I felt like going home and going to bed and nothing had even happened to me! I did end up going to the temple, and I'm glad I did. Now that I've written about it, and counted my blessings, I will make myself a lovely salad instead of eating every single last donut left over from Seminary, even though every cell in my body is whispering in unison that I deserve comfort food right now. I will ignore them, but then I'm going to bed till the kids get home.

12 comments

  1. Oh man! That is some serious life happening right now! I would have eaten the donuts.

    I'm really glad everyone is ok. That sounds very scary. I hope your mental-self recovers soon.

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  2. Wow. I am so grateful for you and your family that he is fine. It's like an eerie echo of Brian's accident. My car accident had me feeling so humbled and grateful for my safety and protection. I imagine you are having those same intense feelings, and probably stronger.

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  3. Wow what a blessing. I am so glad to hear that he is okay. It is a real miracle and I am so happy that is wasn't worse. I admire both of you and hope you both can get thru the emotional part. It is scary!!

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  4. My heart is racing - those first few moments after you get the news of an accident are the MOST terrifying. I appriciate the honesty of this post - it is amazing the way our brains and bodies can keep functioning in times of crisis. HUGS for both of you. I am SO GLAD the important things are well.

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  5. Miracles, indeed! When I first saw your post, the all-caps words were the first I read, so I was really worried until I read the whole thing. It is so humbling to realize a higher power is watching over you. I hope you had a good, restorative nap, and I admire you for passing on the donuts! :)

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  6. Oh wow, how truly terrifying. I'm so glad no one was hurt, what a blessing. Definitely hugs to you guys! And I think at least one donut is in order...

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  7. So glad he's okay. Tell him it would help if he freaked out a little, so you didn't have to do it for both of you! He's probably going to be sore, so maybe tie him to the bed and make him rest. You can feed him doughnuts and have some yourself too.

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  8. wow. what an "exciting" way to end the week. I think I would've reacted similarly (I'll be there in 40 min) before processing and calling back! what a miracle indeed.

    I'm glad you were still able to make it to the temple, I'm sure that helped calm you quite a bit. although I would've totally eaten all of the donuts...

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  9. That is super scary! I can't believe he flipped that huge car and walked away. That truly is a miracle!

    Let Michael know if he needs a ride to the train station. I know that they ride the train together a lot. Michael could pick him up any time.

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  10. I am so grateful he was not injured. What a horrible thing to go through. I am not one bit surprised you were drained after that kind of emotional scare.

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  11. Oh my goodness! I'm so glad everyone is ok, and very impressed that you were able to resist the donuts (can't you force those teenagers to eat them all and remove the tempatation?).

    *hugs*

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  12. Im a little late on the comment, but I am so glad to hear that everyone is okay. What a very scary day. I would have eaten the doughnuts! I'm not very good at ignoring those wispering cells. Wow what a day. {hug}

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