Be kind to your web-footed friends,
For a duck may be somebody's mother......
Yesterday I had kind of a difficult day. I was very tired from the concert the night before, but I still had a lot to do at work as Monday is my busiest day of the week. I had some errands to run after work and things to get done before I had to run all the way to another county for Little Boy's orientation at his new school. I had a lot of stress on my mind from various sources and was just hoping I could get through all I had to do, so I could call it an early night around 9:30 and catch up on some sleep.
And then something happened.
I had one of those you-had-better-slow-down-because-life-can-change-in-an-instant kind of experiences.
On the way to my errands after work, I witnessed a car accident.
During the next twenty or so minutes, I learned a few things about myself and life in general.
1) I know now why witnesses to accidents are so unreliable. I saw the accident happen right in front of me.....it was a few yards right in front of my face.....and I could not tell you what happened. That's exactly what I told the police officer.
2) I tend to say "what?" and "huh?" a lot to perfectly reasonable questions when the person on the other end of the phone is a 911 staffer.
3) I have a hard time remembering the names of roads in the county where I have lived my whole life.
4) When I leaned into one of the injured driver's cars to see if she was okay, everything I did and practiced was something I had learned from a TELEVISION SHOW. While I'm embarrassed to admit that this is the basis of my knowledge, I guess I also have to be grateful that I had it from somewhere. Thanks, CSI!
5) In every given situation in my life that is upsetting or traumatic, I can sail through it pretty well and then fall unbelievably apart once I get away from it and am alone.
All through helping and waiting for emergency responders yesterday, I kept thinking about the victim and how much she reminded me of my mother and other women I know close to my mother's age. If that had been my mother, she would have been as hysterical as this lady was who wouldn't let go of my hand.
Teresa. Her name was Teresa.
My Little Boy sings this song all the time:
Be kind to your web-footed friends,
For a duck may be somebody's mother......
Obviously, Teresa was not a duck, but I couldn't help thinking that if this was MY mom that I would want someone in there waiting with her and holding her hand.
Witnessing accidents tells you a lot about people. You see the ones who speed on by. The ones who jump out to help. The ones who direct traffic. The ones who gawk. Several years ago, my fiance (later husband, now ex-husband) climbed down into a drainage ditch and pulled a screaming toddler from a van and then hoisted him up to strangers waiting to catch the child. Accidents......trauma....fear......they tell you a lot about people. Good and bad.
Once Teresa was loaded into the ambulance, I did manage to pull myself away from the scene and then later, pull myself together. I made it home, made it to the orientation, managed to get some groceries, avoid a late panic attack in Wal-Mart and get home in time to watch a special about Joan Crawford on TCM. I snuggled in with E-Roc and slept the deepest sleep I had in a while. I'll get through today and tomorrow and Little Boy's first day at the big scary new school and life will go on.
It always does.
And even though I'm not a medical professional, I know it will for Teresa too. But that was either by luck, fate or divine intervention based on the looks of her car. Someone or something always steps in. Lucky for all of us.
For a duck may be somebody's mother......
Yesterday I had kind of a difficult day. I was very tired from the concert the night before, but I still had a lot to do at work as Monday is my busiest day of the week. I had some errands to run after work and things to get done before I had to run all the way to another county for Little Boy's orientation at his new school. I had a lot of stress on my mind from various sources and was just hoping I could get through all I had to do, so I could call it an early night around 9:30 and catch up on some sleep.
And then something happened.
I had one of those you-had-better-slow-down-because-life-can-change-in-an-instant kind of experiences.
On the way to my errands after work, I witnessed a car accident.
During the next twenty or so minutes, I learned a few things about myself and life in general.
1) I know now why witnesses to accidents are so unreliable. I saw the accident happen right in front of me.....it was a few yards right in front of my face.....and I could not tell you what happened. That's exactly what I told the police officer.
2) I tend to say "what?" and "huh?" a lot to perfectly reasonable questions when the person on the other end of the phone is a 911 staffer.
3) I have a hard time remembering the names of roads in the county where I have lived my whole life.
4) When I leaned into one of the injured driver's cars to see if she was okay, everything I did and practiced was something I had learned from a TELEVISION SHOW. While I'm embarrassed to admit that this is the basis of my knowledge, I guess I also have to be grateful that I had it from somewhere. Thanks, CSI!
5) In every given situation in my life that is upsetting or traumatic, I can sail through it pretty well and then fall unbelievably apart once I get away from it and am alone.
All through helping and waiting for emergency responders yesterday, I kept thinking about the victim and how much she reminded me of my mother and other women I know close to my mother's age. If that had been my mother, she would have been as hysterical as this lady was who wouldn't let go of my hand.
Teresa. Her name was Teresa.
My Little Boy sings this song all the time:
Be kind to your web-footed friends,
For a duck may be somebody's mother......
Obviously, Teresa was not a duck, but I couldn't help thinking that if this was MY mom that I would want someone in there waiting with her and holding her hand.
Witnessing accidents tells you a lot about people. You see the ones who speed on by. The ones who jump out to help. The ones who direct traffic. The ones who gawk. Several years ago, my fiance (later husband, now ex-husband) climbed down into a drainage ditch and pulled a screaming toddler from a van and then hoisted him up to strangers waiting to catch the child. Accidents......trauma....fear......they tell you a lot about people. Good and bad.
Once Teresa was loaded into the ambulance, I did manage to pull myself away from the scene and then later, pull myself together. I made it home, made it to the orientation, managed to get some groceries, avoid a late panic attack in Wal-Mart and get home in time to watch a special about Joan Crawford on TCM. I snuggled in with E-Roc and slept the deepest sleep I had in a while. I'll get through today and tomorrow and Little Boy's first day at the big scary new school and life will go on.
It always does.
And even though I'm not a medical professional, I know it will for Teresa too. But that was either by luck, fate or divine intervention based on the looks of her car. Someone or something always steps in. Lucky for all of us.
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