I often think about life in terms of "What if today was the only day I had left to make a difference?" What would I do. Well, now that I have my two boys, I would spend the entire day loving them, playing with them, making forts and mashed potato mountains with gravy volcanoes. I would spend every waking moment with them. It's not that hard a decision to make. We never know how much time we have, and it all can be gone in one instant. One blink, one distraction.
Thursday night as I was cleaning up the kitchen before bed (it was after 12:30am, once I finally got the LO to sleep - he's been sick) and I heard this deafening BOOM/POP/CRASH sound outside. A car traveling within the speed limit on our street (40mph) hit a parked car because the driver looked away for "just a moment" and over shot the curve she was coming around. It was a head on collision, a mid-size sedan with a full sized SUV. They were damn lucky to walk away with the minimal bruises and abrasions they had. DAMN LUCKY. The driver was 19 years old and her passenger was 20. Two young girls heading home from a friends house. My mom and I offered comfort, a blanket and stayed with them till their parents arrived. The paramedics had come and gone by then, the police lingered long enough to finalize their report. There was a witness, a young man driving behind them who said they were not speeding, nor driving erratically. They were also sober.
I just kept comforting the girls, telling them to breathe, that things like this happen to the best of us. At one point, after the passenger got picked up by her parents and all that was left was the driver, her folks, the tow truck, the cops and the witness. The young driver turned to me and started to thank me for being there and for being so kind, saying things like "God bless you, how can I ever thank you..." I turned to her and asked her to pay it forward. One day when she's in her 30's and sees someone in need of help, to remember the kindness she was shown and show no prejudice. I hope she does. I didn't do it to be thanked, or to be praised, I helped them because if it were MY kids, I'd hope someone would do the same.
The way their car was mangled, they could have easily died in that crash. They would have been gone in one glance away from the road. They had a guardian angel watching out for them that night, it was not their time, otherwise it would have been a completely different night. I got back into the house around 3am. I hugged and kissed both my boys. I tried sleeping but didn't finally fall asleep till nearly 4am. All those families have to worry about now is dealing with the insurance companies. I'm glad their families were spared the grueling details that may have come with a tragic fatal outcome.
Bottom line: Hug your kids and loved ones whenever you can. DO NOT TEXT/TALK WHILE DRIVING. Do not waste one single second of your life and make each moment count.
How do you view the afterlife? How do you view life now? What are you grateful for?
What is YOUR source?
