2 month hiatus: car crash edition

It's been nearly 2 months since I last listed down all the things we're doing, experiencing, or having done to us. And when I sit to think back on these last 2 months, there's both quite a lot and hardly a bit to run down. I think this is why those high school essay templates were created; I'd have only about two or three larger Roman numerals but, like i-xxvii on the details. 

All of that might need to wait a little more, though, because today I'm finally sitting down to hash out and keep record of our car accident. That's right, a car accident. I'll take others' advice and give the spoiler now that we're all OK! Last Monday, Labor Day Monday, September 5th, we had just gotten on the road to return home after a brief stay in Orange Beach, AL. Check-out was 1pm, and the crash happened at 1:12 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, so we hadn't even had time to get cozy ... luckily! Just imagine all those "comfy" positions you sit in as a passenger and how they might make a smash that much worse. I don't want to put my feet on the glove box or sleep against the window ever again; not after seeing how the window breaks and airbags deploy.

Special sunglasses from Rome 2010

Anyway. So we were travelling in the left of two lanes northbound on 59 somewhere between 25 & 35mph. There was a turning lane on our left and then the two lanes of southbound traffic. Dylan was driving, I was front passenger, Jack (12wks) was behind me, rear-facing, Paul (4 yrs 7mos) in the middle, and Ada (2 yrs 7mos) was behind Dylan. The right lane of traffic had slowed to a near stop in the drizzle, and our lane was flowing slowly but smoothly. Someone in the right lane had managed to stop & leave a gap before the driveway to a grocery store strip mall where a black Chevy Silverado was pulling out to turn left. Unfortunately, he saw just that gap and the fact that the southbound traffic was waiting at a stoplight. He gunned it out of his driveway, and no sooner than we could see the truck at all, it had smashed right into my door, sending us a little further along in our travel direction and spinning us around, coming to a halt in the left, southbound lane. 

After all motion stopped, Ada gave a slow-to-loud, scared cry, and Jack was crying; Paul looked stunned. I turned around to see them, touched someone a little, probably Paul, and just started singing to them. Dylan was fast to jump out, opened the driver's side doors, leant in to ask me if I could get out, and then started scooping the kids out. He grabbed Ada first, of course, handed her off, he told me later, to an angel of a man who stopped to help, and then got Paul. He said he had to unfold Jack's little left foot out from under his right leg a little and that it was red. I felt hot all along my right side from the airbag and had pretty sharp back pain, so I told Dylan I would stay put when he asked if I could crawl out of his side; I could wiggle all my fingers and toes, and I didn't want to damage something crawling out on my own. Dylan said that he and the kids stood on the side of the road as they watched the firemen use the "jaws of life" to get the door off and pull me out. During those very few minutes of scrambling the kids out and waiting for the first responders, the actual first responders who just pulled over to help were so, so lovely; those who helped hold kids, and one woman, my age-ish, who leaned in and narrated the whole thing to me, telling me where my babies were and who was doing what. She's also on the police report as "the witness"; yes, we've since facebook-stalked her and thanked her. 

<--- That airbag caused that damage ---> but spared countless other injuries, I'm sure. But this one did hurt a bit.

Once out of the car, they laid me on a stretcher, put a neck brace on me as the drizzle got a little harder, all the while apologizing and saying they'll try to go quickly, and rolled me into the ambulance. Then they scurried around trying to figure out how to work Jack's carseat since it's a little unconventional for infants (... and awesome. We've already bought 3 new ones and installed them in the rental we still have. We are Clek customers for life!) While that was happening, and I was just lying there, a fireman cuddled Jack to his chest. Turns out his zipper scratched the baby's head because he had a stark red mark on the right side of his head upon arrival that Dylan said was not there when taking him out. But we were all a little shocked, and things went fast, so he couldn't be completely sure. So a ct scan was ordered along with an xray of his left ankle. I had 4 xrays on my chest and back, and everything came back completely clear within about an hour. The doctor (who I imagined being Peter since he was doing his ER rotation at the time and who said would be horrified to see such a tiny baby wheeled in after a Motor Vehicle Collision) and nurses brought in ice cream for Paul and Ada, who was crying for something totally silly and normal (insert re-appreciation for normal toddler tantrums here!), and then we were free to go.

But there was nowhere to go. It was about 4-something, and we had to get a rental car to get home. Except we also needed rental carseats, and it was a holiday in the tiny town of Foley, Alabama. Nothing was available. We needed a hotel, then. Except there were no taxis that serviced that area; then there was one! So we took the only taxi to one of 2 hotels and got as comfortable as we could in the clothes on our backs; the lack of pajamas made Ada sad. Jack sacked out nursing, which was no easy feat for me, and Dylan took P & A to get food from the Cracker Barrel within walking distance. We booked 2 adjoining rooms, and the kids ate in front of the TV in the other room in anticipation of Nana & Pappy! They had left at 3pm from Houston and were driving all the way to Gulf Shores to help us; they hadn't been to Gulf Shores in 20 years, and they didn't even see the coast. They arrived at 1am. 

The next morning, after Dylan had so gingerly laid me down and lifted me up out of bed, we had to get to the business of getting home. First, Dylan and Dad went to the car lot to gather all of our personals; we hadn't even had the mindset to grab the diaper bag, so the hotel manager was so lovely and had her husband drop off a few diapers for the overnight hours. Gosh, really, so many angels. Then, the two guys saw about a rental car. The trick was that three rental carseats had to be rented from the same place as a car big enough for all 5 of us; one place had a car but no seats, and another had seats but no car big enough; they had to drive 100 miles out of the way to the airport in Mobile, AL to get a van and 3 seats. Once they got back to the hotel Mom and I had long checked out of, we could pack up and head out for NOLA.

What were the kids, Mom, and I doing during that time? Well, I was walking slowly, not fussing Paul and Ada because I was just so thankful to have them and their noises, and Mom held Jack. All day. We moseyed from hotel room to hotel room to hotel lobby, to the Cracker Barrel, and to an empty meeting room where we could leave our stuff after check-out and where the kids could run free. That may not sound like much, but re-read these last two paragraphs imagining that Dylan and I were on our own without Kenny & Fran ... I couldn't bend to lift or lay the baby down, so he would've cried and cried while Dylan was out trying to tackle those things with Uber or taxis or something. I dunno. As it was, my mom and dad dropped what they were doing and came to our aid; and we're very grateful.

Dylan and I realize that this accident could have been much, much worse. Our injuries could have been much worse still surviving it, and, of course, it could've been worst if someone hadn't survived. But we all did and with very few bumps and bruises, none of which we expect will cause permanent damage. We are so grateful for all of our guardian angels, seen and unseen, and have thanked God for keeping our family together. It's really bizarre to be faced with something of such gravity without quite the physical ailments that typically categorize something as a "near death experience"; there were no tunnels of lights or out-of-body moments, but we have definitely reflected more about the fragility of life and making the most of what God's given us. 

Now just a list of still shots in my memory: my half-eaten sandwich that was wedged between the broken side-view mirror and a piece of door; thousands of nuts that I'd saved for the ride home spilled from their tupperware; the chrome grill of the truck at my window; Dylan's no-nonsense face asking after me; the fireman holding Jack in the ambulance; finding a shard of glass in my scalp at the hotel; and although it's not a "still-shot", per se, the sound of that engine revving up before impact. In fact, I was sitting on the porch tonight with the kids and some friends who'd brought dinner over, and one engine sound caught my attention; I looked up and watched as a Silverado drove slowly down the street. 

Accident summary: nuts & glass

So next time you're in traffic because of an accident, instead of cursing or mumbling under your breath, take a leaf out of a friend's book and say, "I hope everybody's ok!"