My oldest daughter was on her way to work this morning when her vehicle spun around, completely out of her control.  One minute she was traveling along not even thinking about her commute to work, and the next minute she was in a ditch!

In the blink of an eye …

That is how fast our entire world could have been turned upside down.

My husband and I were getting ready for work when I heard the phone ring.  “I’m okay … but I need help.  I was getting on the interstate, and I don’t even know what happened.  But I ended up in a ditch. ”  

Imagine those words first thing in the morning and the fear that would well up inside of you!

I can’t possibly remain calm when I hear those words … out of the mouth of MY CHILD!!  Now, I don’t get all emotional and start screaming and crying, but I do have a sense of urgency in my voice as I loudly exclaim to my husband, “She needs help … she’s in a ditch … go … this is where she is … help her …”

And so he did, and in the end, he was able to use our Suburban to pull her Tahoe out of the ditch.

The long and short of it is that it rained all night long, she applied the brakes as she was going around a curve, and then discovered exactly what I meant by the word “hydroplaning.”  I know my children grow weary every time they hear me go into a “story” of what happened to me at various times in my life.   I hope they know by now that I don’t do it so they have to suffer through my boring stories as they fight back their yawns.  I do it because life taught me a lesson, and I didn’t want them to have to learn that same lesson the hard way like I did.  Insert story about how Shirley was going to work one rainy morning as a 20-something year old also, applied the brakes, and slid right into the back of a car.   I told this story so she, and her younger sister that just started driving, will see the importance of not slamming on brakes or pressing the brakes hard in rainy conditions.  She found out exactly what I was referring to when I said that I had no control over the vehicle at that point when it started hydroplaning, I could only hold on for the ride at that point.

Today’s event has a happy ending, THANK GOD!  She escaped with no physical injuries, and much to our surprise, the Tahoe she was driving did not sustain any damage as well.  Lucky?  No … my child was BLESSED by God above and the angels that were riding with her!

She did gain something from my stories after all, as I have also told them not to snatch the wheel of the vehicle.  Thankfully, she held it steady, as if she had snatched the wheel and over corrected, I would not want to even begin to imagine what else could have happened.

In the blink of an eye …

Our entire world could have been shattered.  But I thank God that tonight I will still be able to have my daughters gathered around the dinner table as we tell each other about our day.

The point I’m trying to make is not only to drive safely, especially in wet conditions.  More importantly, love the people in our lives that God has given to us.  Hold them close to our hearts!  Make sure we tell them OFTEN and show them even MORE how much they mean to us and how important they truly are to us!   They give our lives meaning and purpose, and they need to know that!  If you haven’t told those close to you, now is the perfect time to do so.

The year 2020 has been challenging for a LOT of people, our family included, but thankfully, God has protected our family – not just from the Coronavirus – but from what could have been a very bad accident.  My heart is forever grateful to God above!