Truly grateful...

This past Friday, March 16, about 9:50 a.m., while merging with traffic from the Lake Hefner Parkway onto the Kilpatrick Turnpike, I had a car accident that flung me into the cable barriers backwards at a quickly decelerating rate of speed. It happened so quickly. And then it was still. I think I'm fine and get my car to limp and drag herself across the eastbound lanes and park on the right shoulder. Texted Naomi to say I was fine but would not be at art group. Called Tom and told him. He said he'd head right up there and come get me. Called 911.

Tail light in pristine condition!

After a few minutes, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Mark Walters pulls up to check on and assist me. Once he sees that I'm okay and have given him my license and insurance verification, he gives me an accident report to complete. Oddly enough, I use some NASCAR terms describing the incident. The car in front of me 'checked up' and I 'over-corrected.' just a point of humor to me. Tom arrived with a Sonic Route 44 Coke Zero with vanilla (previously misreported as a Diet Dr. Pepper with diet cherry)! What a guy! The trooper even comments that Tom has his priorities right, making sure I am fine first.

Left side looks great!

Fast forward, Red gets flatbed-towed to a nearby body shop and there she still sits waiting for her inspection. We dropped by after lunch to not only make sure the tow truck driver understood where we wanted her taken, but also to take some photos. Poor girl. She's pretty banged up all along the right side. Going backwards along cable and posts from 60+ mph leaves its marks. She punched through the cables halfway up the front hood and over the back of the spoiler on the trunk. We should find out this week how severely she's damaged. Yes, she's 11 years old, but she has fewer than 80,000 miles on her so she's a pretty spoiled little girl. I really want her to get fixed and come home. Dory misses her.

I spent the afternoon resting cozily in bed. I'd start feeling queasy, thinking about what might have been. Almost as quickly, I took the time to fill that feeling with gratitude for exactly what had occurred. The more I responded to friends who were concerned for me, the more evident it became:

• Ultimately, God had the wheel
• Events unfolded exactly as they were meant
• This was one of the BEST days of my life