Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Close Call

A storm rarely slows me down.

Most of the time, it never keeps me from doing what I had originally planned.

Today was not any different- although it could have changed my outlook forever.

Ed and I made plans with his parents about 2 weeks ago to attend "A Christmas Carol" playing at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. We had given them a gift certificate last Christmas which we were sure they hadn't used yet so we invited them to go with us.

Today it snowed most of the day and we ended up with 8 or 9 inches of snow (just a rough guesstimate). We traveled to the show as planned, leaving more than an hour before the show started to give us plenty of time.

The roads were icy in parts and traffic was thick but we arrived in safety. The play was excellent and we had a great time.

On the way home, probably since it hadn't been snowing for awhile, the interstate was dry and we made our way without much adaptation in driving speeds, etc.

Between the University Ave. exit and the first Springville exit, the car directly in front of us braked and spun around. It crashed into the median directly in front of us and ricocheted off headed straight for us. It barely missed us. As Ed tried to slow down to offer assistance and I started to dial 911 for help, he looked in our rear view mirror where he saw cars skidding and trying to get control. 2 cars missed us by inches- one on the left and one on the right.

I think the driver of the car hitting the median was okay but I still called 911 to give them her location. I explained that we tried to stop to offer assistance but the black ice was so slick that we were unable to stop safely.

I'm so grateful that we were protected and spared from an accident. And it humbled me enough to learn that even though you are most careful, do everything right, educated about how to drive in rough weather, accidents will still happen. And while you can't rearrange your life (especially in Utah) around the snowfall- it is still wise to be prepared and cautious.

It also reminds me, even though I had no such feeling or prompting tonight, that we should listen and give validity to the promptings we have to reschedule or cancel certain events. And that we should remain close to the Spirit so that we may receive those promptings when they will keep us out of harms way.

2 comments:

Aly said...

Yikes! That is so scary. I'm glad none of you were hurt. Thank you so much for sharing your Christmas card/letter with our family. Your positive attitude as a mom and friendly personality has had such an uplifting influence on me. Thank you!

Sara Liechty said...

I am glad non of you were hurt and that you arrived home safely! We too went out last night and it was messy! Glad to know you are safe!