January 5, 2007

The last few days have been busy. Wednesday, the first day of work after New Years we had snow. I heard the snow plow at 5:30 am and got up and went in early. Even after the plow the road out of here was snow covered. I got half way up hill and the back end of my truck started fishtailing. I tried not to let up on gas as I was afraid of getting stuck and having to back down hill. So the last half of hill I went up sideways and when the back end was wanting to pass the front end I had not choice but to let up on gas. The last 15 feet of hill I spun up, but I made it. I was a lucky one. Apparently a neighbor had a vehicle fire and called the fire department. Well one of the fire trucks slid and took out a good portion of guard rail and gut stuck over hill. So those that did not get out before 7:30 had to wait until around 10:30 when they finally had the firetruck towed out. Makes me wish there was another way out of our development at times like that. Wednesday night was WVU night and it was with delight that I watched them win the Fiesta Bowl. It was a good day for WVU and they haven't had many lately. I stayed up late to watch them win and finally went to bed after midnight. Thursday was snowy day and I had home calls all day. Karen was coming home from Honduras and she called me saying she was at airport in Honduras around 7:30am. I heard from her again around 10:30 and guess what? Yep she was still at same airport. They canceled several planes due to fog. Karen called at 1:30p and she was finally on plane wanting to take off. Take off was 4 and a half hours late. She made it to Atlanta and then to Columbus. She arrived at Columbus only 30 minutes later than originally planned at half past midnight. It was 12 degrees in Columbus and it was a rude awakening for Karen from warm Honduras. It was so good to see her smile. So there she was with a sunburn on her nose and as we traveled home from the airport the temps kept dropping. As we got to Athens area the temps were around 8-9 degrees. Brrr! As we were making the change from US 33 to US 50 the car in front of us lost control and went over the overpass. It was a nightmare. It became airborne and ended up on the road underneath us. I made a frantic 911 call and then made the difficult decision to go to crashed vehicle while waiting for emergency workers. With fear and trepidation I approached the vehicle which miracuolusly was sitting upright on the guardrail. The lady's head was covered in blood but she was conscious but dazed. Thankfully, the police was there within 5 minutes and ambulance soon after. To say that this was traumatizing to us all is an understatement. After filling out witness statements we were back on the road again but driving very carefully and saying lots of prayers. I hope the lady survived and is doing well. By the time we pulled into our driveway it was 3 degrees. Welcome home Karen. Oh and it was 4am by then. I got up for work a little after six but I had enough adrenaline from the previous night to keep me going throughout the day.
So as I have quiet time today and time for reflection, I am thankful. Thankful that I did go with Brian and Oliver to pick up Karen. Thankful that we were behind the wrecked car so that we could call for help. The road she landed on the patrol said was sparsely traveled and it could have been up to 3o or 45 minutes before a car might have found her wrecked vehicle. It was truly a God thing to see that her vehicle landed upright(minus a couple wheels). The vehicle was a jeep type vehicle with a cloth top. If she had landed on her top she would have had no chance of surviving. When I saw her vehicle go over the edge it was starting to roll to its left side. The drop was maybe 25 or 30 feet and her car landed upright. I can not explain this. It was clearly flipping over as it went over the edge but either completely rolled or the hand of an angel righted it before landing on its top. God is good. This incident reminded us of how temporary life is. I want to make the most of every minute of my life and not take anything for granted. I keep forgetting that this is a journey not the destination. So as I spend a quiet day I think thank God for my loved ones that they are safe and I am reminded that anything can happen in a split second. Tomorrow is the birthday of my first born. Happy Birthday Lisa. So continue with your journey but look up and hold the hands of those you love.