In a split second...

Usually I write things here about my family. Tonight writing here is going to be my way of coping with the tragedy that I experienced tonight.

Tonight started as a normal night. I picked up the boys and we had some Chinese Food because it was the first day of the Chinese New Year and a little boy in my class' family owns a resturant in town that has Chinese Food. I played with the boys and got Riley started on his Valentine's for his classmates. I was going to take Aiden with me to get some fish for his new acquarium that Jamma was given from a co-worker. We were going to go to school to do a few things and then we were going to get the fish. Well...Aiden was not really moving fast and wasn't getting ready to go. I told him it was cold out and he needed to bundle up. He decided not to come with me because he doesn't like the cold. I went to school and moved some of the things in my classroom around and spent a lot longer there than I thought I was going to. At about 8:15 I thought that I would run to the mall. It is pajama day at our school tomorrow...so I thought that I would see if I could find a pair of pj bottoms. I got to the mall at 8:45 and ran into a store. At 9:00 the mall closed...so I was going to go to Barnes and Noble and pick up a book that I had ordered for my classroom. Because it was late, I thought I would just go home and hopefully see the boys before they fell asleep. I skipped stopping at the bookstore. I headed on my way home.

At around 9:13 or so...I turned onto a road and was headed north toward home. I was in the left hand lane. For some reason...I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that there was a car that was driving weird behind me. It seemed to be going really fast....picking up speed. I was starting to get worried and pulled over into the right hand lane. The vehicle went flying past me. As I was watching it...I didn't realize what was about to happen before my very eyes. The cars speed increased and the driver lost control. He went right up over the median and was driving north in the south bound lane. The next thing I saw seemed like it was happening in slow motion. He hit a car head on. The car that was hit flipped upside down and the other car was smashed so badly. A third car hit the car that went over the median. I pulled my car over and got out and called 911. The things I saw will forever be burned in my mind...and I wish I never saw them. In the car that was upside down, there was a man upside down. There was glass and metal everywhere. I went over to the guy and started rubbing his arm and back...asking if he could hear me. I asked if he was okay...if he could hear me...I saw his hand twitching a little bit. I kept trying to see if he would respond...but he didn't. In one of the cars that was passing by was a man that was a paramedic. He checked the guy and couldn't find a pulse. I'm not sure if the other person/people in the other vehicle were alive or not. The windows were so smashed in...you couldn't see inside. One of the people that stopped thought that they saw an arm move. It took several police and fire fighters to get him out. Being on the scene of one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life...is so undescribable. I keep seeing the man upside down and all the lights of all the police cars. I keep thinking of the people who were in the car behind the one that got hit. After giving my statement to the police, I sat in my car and felt like throwing up. I called home but everyone was sleeping, so I called a friend to talk. I then called my mom. As I was driving home all these things started running through my mind. The guy was wearing a sweatshirt that resembled one that my dad wears. I never saw the guys face...so I panicked. I called my mom again and asked if dad was home. She said he was...so I was relieved.

All these things have run through my mind tonight. I am wondering what happened. Was the guy that sped up behind me drunk? Did he have a heart attack? Did something happen with his car...malfunctioning? All these things go through my mind. Then I think...what about the other person? Are they okay? Were they on their way home to kids? Did they just run to the store for a quick errand and now their life and been changed forever? I started thinking about how you never know what is going to happen to you or to the people that you love. I also thought...what if I had brought Aiden with me? Life could change in a split second. I keep thinking about the guy that hit the other one and how bad I felt that one guy was in his car...hanging there. Someone was going to have to call his family. I keep thinking...if the driver that went over the median WAS drinking...how mad I would be at him because he may have taken an innocent person's life. I also feel sorry for him...I have thought about all the things that I get so worked up about that don't matter. Tonight I think, I am lucky to be alive and I never know what will happen to me or to my family or friends tomorrow or two seconds from now. I am thinking about how life can change in a split second and that I need to realize how lucky I am to have the family and friends that I have. Each day when I walk out the door...I need to remember that.

Please say a prayer for the people that were killed tonight or injured tonight. Also for their families. Even though I don't know who they are...I will be thinking about them for a long time!!!