Another Accident and We're All Okay

I know writing this one is going to be tough.  I almost feel silly that it is tough.  We're all okay.  God watched over us and kept us safe.  We weren't even injured, except for a couple bruises.  But, unlike the last time, I saw it coming and it keeps replaying in my mind...

This past Sunday, as I drove to a nearby city for an ink cartridge, I realized I was probably too tired and shouldn't be on the road.  As I drove along, I thought how on Friday (now today) it would be the one year anniversary of our truck accident. I needed to stay awake.  I needed to keep my kids safe, and myself safe.  I didn't need to cause an accident.  I only had a few miles to my destination, so I prayed (eyes open of course) thanking God for keeping us safe a year ago and to please watch over us and protect us today.  I knew once I got out and walked around, maybe grabbed a drink, I'd be good, but I just had to make it...and we did!

We went into the city for an ink cartridge.  I needed to print off cut sheets and get them filled out and to the meat processor before the beef was ready to be cut...but I'd been out of ink for over a week.  So we grabbed an ink cartridge at Staples.  The kids really wanted to go to Toys R Us.  Morgan had $27 left on her gift certificate she won from the dentist and had wanted a the Unicorn Dream Light all along, but they didn't have it the last time we were there.  Turns out they had it this time, along with mini Dream Lights, so Morgan decided she could get the little one and Blake could get the Triceratops one with the rest of her money.  I grabbed a soda...with caffeine.  I felt a lot better after walking around, but I wanted to be on the safe side on the way home.

As we headed home, I thought it would be nice to stop and see Rich.  He was at his family's property cutting hay, which was on the way, plus I thought the kids would like to show their dad what they had just gotten.

I had been following a white car for a while.  It turned left about a mile and a half before where I had to turn.  I remember being slightly annoyed by them hitting their brakes over and over without turning their blinker on to let me know what they were doing.  So, as I approached my turn, I made sure my blinker was on before I touched the brakes.  I also looked in my rear view mirror to see that I had a motorcycle behind me with a truck behind him.  The lane was clear from the opposite direction, so I didn't need to stop before I turned.

As I turned, I thought I saw the motorcycle go around me on the right, but I also saw the truck coming right for me.  I remember trying to speed up to get ahead of him, so maybe he'd miss me, but it didn't work.  He hit us, and pushed us right for a deep ditch...way above my head...maybe 15-20 feet deep?  Thankfully we went for the ditch with the front of the car, and not the side, so we didn't roll.  And through it all, I remember being uncharacteristically calm...believe me I really think I should have freaked out!  I don't have fancy words for it, but I'm pretty it was a 'God thing' to have stayed so calm.

The panic didn't come until we stopped and it hit me I had to check on the kids.  A quick look at Blake and he seemed fine but, Morgan was on my side, the side that was hit, and her door was way closer than it should have been to her.  She looked panicked and cried a bit, but looked okay.

As I got out of the car, and got the kids out making sure they were still okay, people were standing at the top of the ditch telling us 911 had been called.   They brought us water and one man ran and got Morgan ice once we started to notice her face looked red where maybe she hit.  I had called Rich when I found my phone...it was on the floor.  He had just happened to jump off the tractor at that moment to get a drink from his mom, otherwise he would have never heard the phone...again, no fancy words for it, but definitely another 'God thing'. ;-)

The fire department came, gave the kids stuffed animals and other goodies while they checked us over.  The ambulance then arrived and within a few minutes Morgan and I went to the hospital.  I was pretty sure I was okay, but I wasn't sure what had happened to her and wanted to make sure she wasn't hurt more than we could see.

So, once we checked in at the hospital and Morgan and I were alone, I had the chance to talk to her.  All along I knew she had a cut and bruise, but it wasn't on the side where she would have hit the door.  It turns out, that after the truck hit us, she brought her knees up and put her head down to protect herself from the glass that broke out of her window.  She got bumped up from her knee on what Rich calls our 'joy ride' through the ditch. Thinking about it later, she probably never hit her head as she would have been leaning away from the door during the turn, so the impact may have brought her upright, but not to the door/window.  (Now I, on the other hand, did end up with a banged up shoulder and a bruise on my head, as well as bruises on my legs.)

We did all the usual stuff after the accident.  All way too familiar type of stuff.  This time around it's been a little harder.  Last time it was hard to see the truck and pictures of it...but it was a also a reminder that we were all okay.  Seeing the car doesn't bother me as much this time, but other things are bothering me...like vehicles in my rear view mirror when I know I have to turn....makes me tense. If they don't slow down and go around me when I turn...I panic.  I'm sure it'll get better over time.

Morgan does better each day her bruise/cut heals.  She didn't want to go to school Monday because she was self-conscious about it.  That only seemed to last a day two and school has been great ever since.  Of course Blake is good.  He barely even knew anything happened except he got a stuffed animal and he knew his sister went away in an ambulance, which worried him.  (I wish I could be as carefree as that little guy...too busy to let things in life slow him down!)

Morgan's cut and bruise over her eye 2 days after the accident.  She had a little one on her cheek and another bruise on her hip.

I'll finish with pictures of the car, which was totalled.  God deserves all the praise in keeping us safe yet again!