snow...

This  past Saturday the kids and I headed out to see friends shortly after it started to snow.  The roads were pretty slick, but they seemed manageable.  About half way there, I realized that maybe we should have stayed home.  Shortly after that, the pick up truck in front of me stopped in the middle of the road.  I looked up ahead and realized two things.  One, that there was a car blocking our lane (he had pulled half way out of a side road) and two, I wasn't going to be able to stop.  I wasn't going that fast but the roads were just too slick and I had no traction.

I was able to slow my van down a little and turned the wheel so the impact was on the passenger side of the van.  In the split section before we hit, I told the kids I'm not going to be able to stop.  Thankfully, thankfully, no one was hurt.  I remember looking back at the kids and saying 'are you okay'.  And then saying a prayer 'thank you Jesus!'.  Later, they told me that I said a bad word right before I hit the truck.  There's no doubt in my mind I did.

The passenger in the truck was out before I could open my door.  He was so concerned about me and the kids that I got a little teary eyed and truthfully, I was shaking.  I said, 'I'm so sorry.  I saw you stop for that car and had no brakes.'  And then I said, 'This is my first accident in 32 years of driving.'  I had literally never caused an accident before.

He was so gracious and was also an off duty paramedic.  So thankfully, he knew what to do to summon help.  When he got off the phone with the police, he told me that they had received four calls about our accident.  He asked me to get my identification from my vehicle.  I was so shaken, I forgot to think of doing that.  As I was reaching into my car, my phone rang and it was Mark.  He was calling because he knew we would be leaving for our friend's house and wanted to tell me the roads were bad.  I just laughed, a little hysterically maybe, and told him I was well aware of that since I had just hit a pick up truck.

My boys were freaking out.  They were so scared.  I kept hugging them and telling them, 'we're okay, we're okay'.  But still they were freaked out.  They both declared they hated snow and never wanted to see it again.  By this time the police were there and I was realizing that I didn't know who to call to bring us home.  I have plenty of friends but the storm was getting worse and I kept hoping that someone I knew would just happen to be passing and offer to give us a ride.  Instead, the guy I hit took us home.  I may or may not have sent him a thank you card.

All afternoon and night, I kept hugging the boys and telling them it was okay.  The most important thing was we were okay and my van could either be repaired or replaced.  Then they started dreaming of getting me a new vehicle.  They suggested an extended cab pick up truck or a jeep.  As I was putting them to bed, we prayed about the day and thanked God that everyone was healthy and unhurt.  They reiterated their dislike of snow.

On Sunday we woke up to the news that I wouldn't be able to get a rental car until Monday.  Because Mark had to work in the afternoon, we all pitched in to shovel the driveway, sidewalk and front walk.  It was easy going with all four of us and didn't take long.

After the shoveling Mark helped the boys build a snowman.  This also helped them remember why they enjoyed the snow.  Even though it caused dangerous conditions for driving the day before, in the sunshine of a new day they remembered how fun it could be too.

They tried several different versions of the snowman.  I called them outfits and was told I was wrong.  They settled on the WVU snowman as their favorite.  I personally liked the mini-snowman the best.

Grace and I have a rental van here in Hershey so we're fine.  There are tons of calls and follow up to be done about my van but (again) thankfully no one was hurt.  I'm so glad that Mark was able to help the boys remember their love of snow.  Now, I'm over winter and want SPRING...