Accidents Happen

The first time Will does or experiences something new is usually exciting for me.  He has recently discovered his hands, and I love watching him examine them and move them in every direction.  It's simply amazing to watch a little human discover something as simple as our hands.  Brings so much joy to my heart.  He's also really working on his hand-eye coordination.  He's reaching for anything and everything that catches his eye.  My favorite is when he puts his hands on my face.  It's like he's feeling around trying to discover it.  Like that scene from Hook when one of the Lost Boys realizes it really is Peter.

Those are exciting "firsts" for Will to experience.  What happened yesterday wasn't so much.

My mom and Will were accompanying me to a doctor's appointment because we had things to do after the appointment, and of course I was driving Foxy.  I was coming up on an intersection that I needed to go straight through, and the light was green.  The intersection had three lanes in the direction I was going: right turn lane, straight (where I was), and left turn lane.  Apparently, a truck in the right turn lane had stopped (at a green light) to let a car turn left out of a shopping center.  She pulled out to cross over three lanes and never looked to see if the other two lanes were clear.  As she was RIGHT in front of me, I saw her making eye contact with the driver of the truck waving and thanking him for letting her out.  She never saw me.  I slammed on the brakes, and amazingly, we stopped.  We didn't hit her.  I felt completely in control of the car, and although I had to slam on the brakes, I honestly wasn't scared that we were going to hit her.  The brakes didn't lock; the tires didn't squeal.  It was an abrupt stop but not dramatic. 

Then, my mom screamed.  "What an unnecessary and delayed reaction," I thought to myself.  She screamed while the car was still turning in front of us, but I had already reacted since I saw as soon as she started pulling out onto the road.  I didn't get it.  She later explained that since the lady (who was driving a gold Corolla) never saw us, she was cutting the turn pretty hard, and my mom thought she was going to clip the front driver side of the car.  From my perspective, I could see that she wasn't going to.  I thought we were in the clear.

Of course, all that had passed was probably one or two seconds.  Then it happened.

We were hit.

And I was not happy.  I looked over my left shoulder and saw that the gold Corolla had collided with a silver Corolla that had been pushed into us.

Up until this point, Will hadn't made a peep.  After we were hit, he started crying.  AHHH!  I was so upset.  I knew based on how we were hit that it was highly unlikely he was hurt (we weren't hit that hard), but I'm sure it scared him.  Or perhaps it was the fact that Grammy screamed and mommy might have let out a few choice words after we were hit...but I digress.  Regardless, we were just in a car accident, and my 15-week old baby was crying.

I pulled into the turn lane to get out of the way of traffic, but then I saw the other two cars pull into a parking lot behind me.  By this point, I was shaking and didn't know what to do.  I knew I needed to turn around to get to where they had gone, but wasn't sure how to do it.  My mom helped me by directing me to stay in the turn lane and turn left when the light turned green.  By the time we pulled into the parking lot where the other two cars were, both Will and I had calmed down.  The next few minutes were a little chaotic.  Who to call first?  My mom called 911.  I got out of the car and then got Will out.  He wasn't hurt, nor was he upset anymore, but I held him oh-so closely.  In that moment, I wasn't sure I'd ever let go.  I know I was more upset than he was.  I called my doctor's office to let them know I wouldn't be making it in.  I think I started to call Wayne three different times and hung up.  You see, Wayne was busy running the biggest show of the year for his company.  It was opening day, and one of the most stressful days of the year for him.  I finally called him, and of course it went straight to voicemail.  Tried again...voicemail.  So I sent a text.  we just got in a car accident.  we're ok.  car...not so much.  wasn't my fault.  He called immediately.  He didn't realize Will was in the car with me until I said, "Oh my gosh, he just puked all over me."

"Wait, WILL WAS IN THE CAR?!"
"Yes, but he's okay!"

Daddy wasn't happy.

Wayne was already having a rough day.  Not only was it one of the most important and, therefore, stressful days of the year for him, but we had received news earlier in the morning that one of his great-uncles was in the hospital.  (Please say a prayer for Uncle Don.)

While Will was in my arms and I was trying to make my phone calls, I was walking around the car assessing the damage.  At first, I only saw a few tiny little scratches along the back bumper.  "Wow.  I can't believe that's all the damage we got."  I walked all the way around the car again, and then I saw the doors.  Not sure how I missed that at first.  Actually, I'm sure I missed it because the first time I got out of the car, my mind was focused on getting Will out.  Thankfully, his car seat is behind the passenger's side and not the driver's side, and we were hit on the driver's side.  I realize now that the damage really isn't that bad.  But in the heat of the moment, I'm seeing our brand new (to us) car not look like this anymore and thinking how upset Wayne will be.  (That's what I was thinking in the moment.  Of course, Wayne doesn't care about the car.  He only cared that we were all okay.)

The lady driving the gold Corolla (who caused the accident) had her dog in the car with her, and the driver of the silver Corolla (who hit me) was a teenage girl.  No one, including the dog, was hurt.

The officer who arrived to work the accident was really nice and helpful.  I seemed to have the best explanation of what happened since I don't think the other two cars saw each other until it was too late, so he kept asking me to explain what happened.  My mom took Will so I could be free to talk to the officer.  Here's what happened.  I'll use GC for gold Corolla (at fault) and SC for silver Corolla (teenage girl who collided with both of us).

As I explained earlier, the GC turned left out of a shopping center onto the main road I was driving on.  The light was green, which I'm sure she didn't see, and she had three lanes (right turn lane, straight lane, and left turn lane) that she needed to cross over.  The right turn lane had stopped for her (which I didn't even notice until she was pulling out...have I mentioned it was a green light??), and she never checked the other lanes to see if they were clear.  I was able to stop and avoided t-boning her.  The SC was either directly behind me and swerved into the left turn lane to avoid hitting me since I had to slam on my brakes, or she was purposefully in the left turn lane.  Not sure which one because her story changed.  Ultimately, it didn't matter because neither one of us were at fault.  Either way, the front driver's side of her car hit the back driver's side of the GC.  The force of their collision pushed the SC into the driver's side of my car.  Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It still makes me mad/sad to think about it.

My sweet angel baby had been in his first car accident, and so had I.  Not a "first" to be excited about.

This is what I saw at first and thought it was the only damage we had.

Then I saw the rest.  Poor Foxy.

This is the GC, who was at fault.

This is the SC on the side where she hit the GC.

This is the side where she hit me.

We definitely had the least amount of damage since we were the third car hit.  I am SO THANKFUL that were in Foxy and not Roxy (my 4-Runner).  I really don't think Roxy would have stopped in time simply because she's a much heavier car.  The accident could have been much worse.  Our damage is just cosmetic and will be easy to repair.  The poor girl driving the silver Corolla couldn't open either one of her front doors, and the gold Corolla's bumper is hanging.  We were very fortunate.  I know we also had a Hand of protection over us.

It all happened so fast.  It's scary how life can change in the blink of an eye.  Thankfully, ours was not at all a life-changing accident.  I'm not sure you'll ever see me pulling out across several lanes of traffic to turn left, though.  At least not for a while.  I'm still amazed that that lady never even looked to make sure the other lanes were clear.  If she had, the whole wreck (as we say in the South) would have been avoided.

My sweet baby did fine the entire time we were waiting on the officer to write up the report.  I am so blessed.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to my doctor's appointment.  We came home, and Will took a nap.  Sweet little guy had no idea he'd just been in a car accident.  All he knew was he was getting extra hugs and kisses from his mommy that day.  Babies bring so much perspective and teach us adults so much.  Oh, how thankful I am.  

Thank you, Lord, for my precious angel and for protecting him yesterday!