Near Brush with Death

During Memorial Day Weekend, one of my best friends that I had known since mid-school, was having her college graduation party that Friday night, and I really wanted to celebrate with her. J-Dawg wouldn't be able to come till Saturday morning, so it all kind of worked out. I made my parents dinner that night, so I was running late getting out of the house to head to Kat's party. We finished eating, I kissed my parents goodbye, and they asked me to be safe (as they always do) but there was a deeper concern in their voice than normal. I disregarded their uneasy feeling and left.

I pulled onto the highway from my parent's road, and was listening to a new song from the Country Strong soundtrack I had recently downloaded. Singing along to the lyrics "When the stars line up, and you catch a good break, and people think you're lucky, but you know it’s grace. It can happen so fast, or a little bit late, timing is everything. You know I’ve had close calls, when it could have been me. I was young when I learned just how fragile life could be, I lost friends of mine, I guess it wasn’t my time, time is everything. I could have been a child that got took home, and I would have been one more unfinished song. And when it seems a rhyme is hard to find, that’s when one comes along just in time. Timing is everything."

At that instant, I saw headlights pointed toward me and immediately realized there was a truck driving the wrong way. I then saw them pass me in the inside lane driving incredibly fast. Immediately, I began to panic, pulled over and call 911. I explained my location, the description of the vehicle (which I barely caught because of how quick it was going) and gave them my contact information. I hung up the phone and then called my parents to explain what happened and told them I was on my way home. I also called J-Dawg, because I knew he'd be able to help calm my nerves.

I took some deep breaths, collected myself and got back on the road, only to see red flashing lights, ambulances and police just a mile or two down the road. "Please no" I thought. For some reason, could be human nature, but I had to drive down to see what had happened. All the while I was hoping the driver did not hit someone else, but a pole, wall or something to that effect. When I arrived at the scene, the police officer asked me to turn around and said "someone has just passed away here". My worst fear was just realized.

I went home completely startled and in tears. My mom and dad stayed up with me throughout the night to comfort me. My phone rang at 2am, it was the 911 dispatcher asking for more information. I asked what happened and was informed that the driver had hit another car and killed the person. And that instant, my stomach dropped and I felt as if I needed to vomit. J-Dawg called and talked me through my sadness and comforted me. Then my parents and I just sat. After hours of sitting there in silence, I was able to fall asleep. The next morning, we had turned on the news, only to hear there were three other similar accidents Memorial Weekend involving three wrong-way drunk drivers. 

J-Dawg got in that morning, rushed to me, and swept me into his arms. He whispered into my ear "I don't know what I would do if that was you last night. I'm so glad you're okay," and kissed my forehead. At that point, I was more than okay. I knew it wasn't my time, I knew there was still much more to learn, much more to see, and that God had some more tasks for me on his to-do list. I couldn't leave them unfinished. My parents smiled as J-Dawg held me, and they, like me, were so grateful that my guardian angel was flying faster than I was driving.