WHEN YOU PICK UP A PHONE . . .

When you pick up a phone and the voice on the other end says, "Dad, I'm okay, but the other driver isn't," time seems to stand still. You don't hear the television, nor the birds chirping happily on the feeders as they gobble their seed, nor the dog padding across the hardwood floor, his toenails clicking lightly, nor the timer on the oven buzzing. All I heard was my husband's voice as he spoke to Bill. All I saw was the concern visible on his face.

We were expecting our son and two other adults bringing boy scouts who wanted to work on their water skiing merit badges. Instead, we learned our son had been running late, so the scouts and other adults had left a few minutes ahead of him. Praise the Lord! Bill was alone when he rounded a sharp curve on the unmarked country road to our house and crashed head on into a truck on his side of the road. Both trucks were totaled.

Stunned, bruised, and cut, our son managed to get out of his truck, find his cell phone, and hobble to the other vehicle. That driver was lying across the front seat, an arm and a leg bleeding badly. His condition was serious. Bill called 911. By the time my husband arrived 10 minutes later, EMTs were working on the other driver. They transported him to the hospital. He hadn't been wearing a seat belt, and his truck had no air bags. He was charged with reckless driving. I don't know how he is; I hope and pray his injuries were not life-threatening, that he will again be healthy.

 The other driver's truck.

Bill's truck was equipped with air bags, which saved him from serious injuries, quite likely saved his life. And you know what? Two days before, the exhaust pipe from his older vehicle, the car he would have driven to our house and Smith Mountain Lake, dropped onto a city street. The car was towed to an automobile repair shop. Normally, the shop would have been able to fix the car that day, but it was a holiday and they were closed. That car had no air bags. If Bill had been driving it instead of his truck he would have been killed.

 Bill's truck.

I thank God for taking care of my son and the scouts who would have been riding with him. I am thankful the repair shop was closed. I am thankful my daughter-in-law still has a husband, and I am thankful my grandchildren still have a daddy. And I am thankful, and blessed, to still have my son.

This event has changed me. I will live every day to it's fullest. I will love and appreciate my husband, my children, their spouses, my grandchildren, and my friends. And I will thank God every day for my blessings.