An Angel, I Think …

by Laurie Larsen

It was the day after Memorial Day, and I had taken a day off work to extend my long holiday weekend.  Besides, it was the kids’ first official day of summer break, and I wanted to spend the day with them.  In the morning, they slept in and watched TV, while I finished some work.  Then I took the kids to the pool.  We were there almost three hours, the kids both got sunburned, and then I stopped at McDonald’s on the way home and we got a late lunch.

When we were done eating, it was time for Jeff to get dressed for his baseball game.  He had a doubleheader in Eureka, about 40 minutes away, and I was taking him there early for his batting practice.  My husband, Norm would join us later after work. 

Jeff played his games – won both of them, and then we went to Pizza Hut for dinner afterward.  We both started driving home, me following Norm in his pickup truck.  Jeff was with me because he likes my music choices better than his dad’s.

We were almost home.  It was about 10 PM, and it had been a long, eventful day.  I was tired.  Maybe I was in automatic pilot mode, not paying full attention to the road.  But whatever, we got off one highway and onto another right outside of town.  The intersection was tricky and of course, it was dark.  To make matters worse, the whole thing was under construction.  There were just two very tight lanes with waist-high cement walls on either side.  No shoulder to pull off on, no wiggle room whatsoever.  So, here I come, following Norm, he drives up the tight entry ramp and enters the highway, and then, so did I. 

Except, when I did it, there was a semi-truck already in that lane, plowing through, right on my tail.  I first heard the horn he was laying on, and then I turned my head and saw him.  In fact, for a few nights after the accident, every time I closed my eyes, I’d see that in my memory over and over again – the semi plowing right into me, just inches from my head.

The semi and I were suddenly in the right lane together, and another vehicle in the left.  Three of us smooshed into two very tight lanes.

I didn’t know what else to do except slam on my brakes.  Jeffrey had reclined his seat and closed his eyes, so thankfully he didn’t see it coming.  The car came to a halt, but the semi couldn’t stop that fast.  He sideswiped me, going highway speed.  My side impact air bag deployed, which I’m sure saved me from getting a face full of glass.  My outside mirror ripped off and flung through my closed driver’s window.  The glass shattered in my lap and the mirror landed at my feet.

As the monstrous tires swept past my car, it lifted my car up off the ground and I just held on tight to the steering wheel and the brakes, riding it out like a bucking bronco.  Jeff sat up at the impact and said, “Mom?  Mom?”  I could sense a trace of panic in his voice and I knew he’d fall apart if I did, so I said (probably a little too enthusiastically), “We’re okay, honey!  We’re okay!” and he calmed down.

When the truck finally passed, the car dropped back to the ground.  Three tires popped when I landed.  And … that was it.  I was fine, Jeff was fine.  The car didn’t cave in, implode, explode, jerk, jolt or get thrown over the wall – all of which were very likely options!  The car took a beating but protected us, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.

Meanwhile, Norm, driving in front of us, was watching this horrifying scene unfold in his rearview mirror.  He was panicked, but there was nowhere to pull over.  Eventually he let the semi pass him, pulled in behind it when it stopped too, and parked his truck on the right lane further up.  The semi driver reached me first.  He stuck his finger in my face and yelled, “You did not have the right of way!  You did not have the right of way!”  There I sat, shaking from the accident, looking at him through the broken window of my beautiful, now destroyed car, peeking out from underneath the deployed air bag, and said, “I realize that.  I didn’t do it on purpose.”

As he turned away, Norm came running up.  He started in on him and Norm said, “I don’t give a damn about that!  That’s my wife and child in there!  Are they okay?”  The driver waved his hand dismissively and said, “They’re fine.”

Norm stuck his head through my shattered window and kept asking, “Are you okay?  How’s Jeff?  Is anyone hurt?”  I assured him we were both fine, and then it hit me, what I’d done.  I let out a few tears and sobbed, “Look what I’ve done to my car!”

It was then that I saw a beautiful black woman looking at me through the closed passenger side window.  She was gesturing at the window.  I pushed the button to open it, and she said, “Are you okay?” 

I said, “I’m fine.  We’re both fine!”  I was so relieved and amazed that I’d actually been hit by a semi and lived to tell about it. 

She said, “I just witnessed that accident and I can’t believe you have no injuries.” 

I said, “Thank God.”

She said, “God sent an angel down to protect you and your son from harm.”

I couldn’t open my driver side door, so I climbed over the console and climbed out the passenger side after Jeff got out.  When I stood up, the woman pulled me into a hug.  She smelled great and it felt so good.  She had long, wavy hair and wore a flowing pantsuit and she was covered with gold and diamond jewelry.

Another man arrived, pulled his pickup truck behind my car and put on his hazard lights so that people driving up on the highway wouldn’t rear end us, not realizing there was an accident.  He was very nice and offered to give me a jacket because I was shivering.  Then he gave me a bottle of water.  The police arrived, and I could see them interviewing the truck driver and the witness, and then they came over to me and took my statement.  They asked me if there were any other witnesses, and I said, “Yes, a woman …” 

I looked around and she was gone.  I got into the ambulance and they cleaned me up.  I had cuts on my legs from where the window broke on my lap.  It was a long hour of making arrangements to have the car towed, further interviews with the police, and making phone calls.  But bottom line, Jeff and I were fine. 

Late that night, Norm and I were lying in bed.  I asked him if he’d seen that black woman, and he said yes.  I said, “Where did she come from?  The guy who had stopped to help me, drove up in the pick up truck.  Were there any other vehicles parked along the road with you and the semi driver?” 

There weren’t.  He asked if maybe she was a passenger with the semi driver, but the reports said he was traveling alone.  I guess she could’ve been traveling along the other direction, saw the accident and somehow parked her car going the opposite way, but she would’ve had to cross four lanes of highway traffic, and jump over three cement walls to get to me.  And she was the first one to get there!

In light of what she told me, I really have to wonder if she was my angel that God sent to protect me.  Or possibly just a person with Christian faith who just happened to be there at the right place at the right time, walking along a highway under construction at 10:00 at night.  J  But it was weird that she disappeared when the police got there, because usually anyone who is helpful enough to stop at an accident scene, will give a statement to the police about what happened. 

Regardless, she really helped me and I was grateful that she was there. 

I’m doing good.  My cuts have healed, and I’m not as shaky as I was the first few days following.  State Farm decided the car was a total loss, and I had to go over to the body shop and pick up my license plates and my personal effects out of the car.  It was a tearful moment as I sat in my destroyed luxury car, holding on to the steering wheel and thanking it for saving my life, and my son’s.  It had died an early death, but it was there when I needed it.  In commemoration of that brave car, I took the very generous settlement check and bought another car exactly like it.  There’s no difference at all except it’s a year newer.  And it’s very comfortable and familiar driving it.  It’s almost as if the accident never happened.

But it did happen.  God has a reason for why I’m still here, and I hope to discover what it is.  Maybe I’m just supposed to keep living my life – loving my sons and making sure they grow up right. 

Thanks, Angel.