Lessons learned

Last week we had an interesting experience. We had been at my family's house visiting and were debating about leaving to go to work early or staying and reading scriptures with them before everyone went to bed. Sounds like an easy decision, now that I look at it written out like that, but Reagan was tired and we were anxious to get to work and work out (our new thing - we'll see how long it lasts!) Needless to say, we stayed the extra 15 or so minutes to read scriptures and say prayer with them before leaving to go to work. Reagan fell right asleep once we got in the car (thank goodness!) and about fifty yards down the road, we saw this huge, disfigured object in the middle of the road, along with lots of smaller pieces scattered about. (Funny side note, my mind works in interesting ways. Pair that with really horrible eyesight, especially at night, and the first thing that came to my mind was that it was a giant cow laying on the side of the road...seriously?) Maybe it should have been obvious, but it was very dark, and as we approached we squinted our eyes and realized that it was a CAR, obviously seconds after a pretty bad accident. No one else was around, and so Jason pulled over to the side of the road, turned on the hazard lights, told me to call 911, and walked over to the car. Since no one in the car seemed to be moving, I got a little bit scared of what he might find, and how we could help, but he knocked on the car door, and a young girl opened it. She looked as though she had been sleeping when Jason knocked on the door and she had her cell phone right by her ear, like perhaps she had fallen asleep while on the phone. She shook herself awake, stepped out of the car, gave Jason a huge hug, and started crying. She was saying lots of things that didn't make sense, which I'm sure was a result of the shock of the accident, and Jason just kept telling her that she needed to sit down and take it easy until help arrived. We could smell alcohol coming from her car, and realized that this accident was probably a result of drunk driving, but we didn't make any conclusions. She had hit a telephone pole and then spun around into some trees. From the looks of her car, it was a blessing that no one else had been in the passenger seat at the time. Immediately people who lived close by and must have heard the crash happen came out with blankets and used their cell phones to direct traffic. It restored my faith in humanity, seeing all those people out there, with arms around her, making sure she stayed safe. Thankfully, she was, for the most part, not hurt, nor was anyone else, but a lot of emotions ran over me. Some parts of me were angry if she had, in fact, been drinking and driving, especially when we were seconds away from being a part of that accident. But, while we could have been a part of the accident, I was even more grateful that we had been there shortly after it happened so that we could help, even if it was in a very miniscule way. I have never been the first to the scene of an accident, and while I was scared and probably not making any sense to the emergency dispatcher on the phone, it taught me a lesson about how precious and short this life is. We all make mistakes, and we all have opportunities to help people, but life can be taken away in an instant. Just watching the news, I find myself constantly in awe of how many unfortunate situations can happen on a daily basis and yet, we have somehow managed to stay away, unscathed. This situation reminded me that I need to be prepared for anything, and to be grateful with the time I do have with Jason and our precious little Reagan. And it also reminded me that reading scriptures is important! I'm glad we stayed at my parents just a little longer to read them, so that we avoided being a part of that accident. It is a weird feeling, however, to meet and perhaps help someone in such a "close call" situation like that, never to hear from them again. I at least want to tell her that I have spent more time enjoying my husband and daughter, and that I am glad she is ok. I don't know why, but this situation really hit me and I was able to learn what may seem like an obvious lesson to some, but one that gets lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life to me all too often, and that is to relax and enjoy the moments that I have with those I love the most.