What are YOU thankful for, reader?
Today I'm thankful to still be breathing, walking, talking, and not lying in the ICU somewhere.
En route to Port Huron for the fabled Lawrence Family Hockey Game this morning, I hit a patch of ice going 75 in the left lane. I sat silent and flabbergasted with my hands glued to the wheel as I spun 360 degrees across the right lane, shoulder, and about 10 feet of tall grass and cattails before I finally came to rest.
It's remarkable how time slows down when things like this happen. Why? Is it some sort of defense mechanism? Is your brain making you perceive extra time so you can be better prepared for fight or flight? I don't know, but I do know that I had time to think as I-94 went swirling around me. I thought about the fact that, if I died, I would miss playing hockey that day with my cousins and uncles, and that I wouldn't get to play Guitar Hero with my brother, and that I wouldn't get to eat my stepmom's sweet potato casserole or watch Thanksgiving football with my dad. I thought about the fact that Cher was on the radio as this was happening and, honestly, who dies to Cher? I thought about my mother telling me that morning that I should wear socks with my moccasins in case I got stuck in the snow (karma is a bitch).
I thought about all the places I've been and people I've known and things that I've laughed at, and it all suddenly seemed too powerful to ever be extinguished with just pavement and some ice. By the grace of some tall grass and the absence of excessive speed and other people on the road, I'm still here making a dent on the world. I'm pretty glad about that.
Luckily, my dad was driving the same stretch of road. I called him, thinking he might not be far from where I'd spun out. "I see you," he said as he answered the phone. He was there in less than two minutes. He pulled off the road, got out of the car, and said this to his traumatized twenty-year-old blue daughter:
"Welp, good job. Get your shit and let's go play some hockey."
And we did. I got into the car with my dad, played two hours of shinny with my family, went back and hauled GL out of the mire of vegetation she'd landed in. She was muddy and fuzzy with cattail fluff, but she was alive.
And so am I.
And life goes on.
Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
I am become Death
13 years ago
5 comments:
Damn homie! That sounds scary. Good thing German Lightning is an unstoppable driving machine. Also, thank god for Cher because you're right, who dies listening to Cher? Certainly nobody I know. Welp, glad you're ok, have a great rest of Thanksgiving! Possibly and hopefully see you, Potts, Dump, and McBest all in the same place this weekend.
Oh-Eh.
I wouldn't mind seeing you all if you're in this area too.
done and done matt. we would LOVE to see you haha...at bdub's of course. well, speaking for myself anyway.
2 things..
1. GREAT post. It was a very enjoyable read.
2. I'm glad you're still here with us. I've done that a couple of times in my life, but usually all that goes through my head is "awww, fuck!"
"Aw fuck" didn't really occur to me until I was sitting in a ditch covered in cattail fluff.
In retrospect, being covered in cattail fluff is pretty frickin' hilar. (Sidenote)
Bdubs sounds good.
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