My Daddy Saved Our Lives...

Today started out very fun. I had the day off because of the Kentucky holiday of "Oaks Day" celebrated here in Southern Indiana as well. I planned to take my friend Jami out to lunch for her birthday. She turns 30 this weekend!

We met at 9:00 and went to get our fingers and toes pampered with manicures and pedicures. We shopped a little bit around Walmart as well. It was so nice not to rush around. We left Walmart and headed to El Nopal for lunch. We both LOVE Mexican food and couldn't wait to get some queso.

I pulled up to the entrance and turned on my signal. We sat patiently waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear so I could turn. All of the sudden, BAM. We were hit from behind. I was in shock for a good couple of minutes. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the trunk lid was up and knew it was a bad hit because of the loud crash. I just sat there for a minute, kind of in disbelief. A couple people drove by to see if we were okay. Jami called 911 but before she could complete the request there was an officer on the scene. He asked us if we were okay and wanted to know if we wanted an ambulance. We said we felt fine, but he asked, "Are you sure?"

I was really shaky and kind of in shock for a few minutes. I kept looking through my pile of papers in the glove box saying, "Registration. I'm looking for my registration. Where's my insurance card? Registration." I think I sort of sounded like Rain Man for a couple minutes. Jami got out of the car and then got back in. She said, "It's bad."

The policeman had us pull over into a nearby parking lot and I finally got out of my car to take a look. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the safety of the Honda. The trunk is caved in and the back windshield completely shattered but if we had been driving with a baby in the back, everything would have been just fine because everything caved in so the back seat wasn't harmed.

Apparently the guy didn't even apply his breaks and just plowed right into the back of my car. There was a very nice witness who pulled over with us. He was determined to give the police a statement supporting that I was sitting still with my signal on. He was almost in disbelief as well.

The policeman brought Jami and I back to her house and I began the insurance nightmare. I ended up getting a rental car for the weekend until they can get things figured out on Monday. Everyone who has looked at the car seems to think it's going to be totalled but I've also heard that body shops can do amazing things with the repairs. I only snapped one picture, but I don't think it shows the worst part. I should have taken it from the side so you could see how mangled the side and trunk are. Under the hanging bumer there is a whole piece of the main frame that got stripped off. That seems to be the part that could "total" it. My trunk was full of track hurdles from JJ in case you are wondering...

Okay, so now to the part about how my daddy saved our lives... On the way back to Jami's house the police officer complimented me on not having my steering wheel turned and ready for the left hand turn. He said most people do that anticipating the turn so they can react quicker when the traffic breaks. If I had been in position for the turn already when the guy hit us we would have been sent into the oncoming traffic instead of being pushed straight ahead like we did. He said, "I don't know who taught you to turn left like that but it probably saved your friend's life." (Jami would have been in the receiving end of the on-coming traffic.) I proudly said, "My daddy taught me that." I think it was part adrenaline but I almost got emotional. Dad always passed on his "professional driving" tips because he saw so many things as a truck driver. It was a good reminder that my parents are still with me.

Praise God for watching over us today! I can't forget Him either.