Safe and Sound

The boys after a long day

I know you may have been expecting the follow-up post to my previous one, and that's what I was expecting to write, but life, as it does, threw me a curve ball. So I'm just going to go with it.

Yesterday we were in a car accident. We were hit on the side by a driver who ran a stop sign through the intersection. The kids were in the car, as well as my mom who was visiting from Pennsylvania. It was scary, but no one was hurt. Everyone was wearing seat belts and the kids were strapped into the car seats. The other driver was apologetic, (I can't imagine what he must have felt like hitting a whole family full of crying kids!) I've been lucky to have not been involved in many accidents in my life, and so if it had to happen, I couldn't have asked for better luck.

Thank goodness we were driving a big minivan instead of our old little ford focus that we traded in only a few months ago. Thank goodness that we bought top of the line car seats for the kids, and the airbags and safety features of our car did what they were supposed to do.

It's a big headache, it's stressful, I have a sore neck and bruise on my collarbone. I've been on the phone with insurance, rental car, and tow service for more time than I would like, and the paper work is never ending. Still, my strongest feeling is of gratitude. I'm thankful that we came out of it relatively unscathed. I was grateful that my mom was there, not that she was involved in the accident, but for her help and moral support. Miles got to ride in an ambulance, and the kids played with a tennis ball in the lobby of the police station while we waited for our ride (thanks Baba!)

This morning I went to pick up our rental, luckily it's close by so I just walked there while my husband watched the kids (thanks for helping and going in late to work!) It's unusually cool for June, but I've kind of been digging the rainy weather. It feels refreshing, and it reminds me of summer camp and the countryside that I grew up in. The smell of wet earth and grass somehow always brings me back to that relaxing space. It was nice to get out and walk. I don't know when the last time was that I got to take a walk by myself with just my thoughts. It's a nice way to start the day, even if under not the greatest of circumstances. While walking, I remembered something that I learned while living in Rome during college: Umbrella-sidewalk etiquette. The streets are so narrow that when it rains and everyone is carrying umbrellas, the person who is taller has to lift their umbrella so that the other person can pass underneath. It's an unspoken, quirky little dance, but it made me smile to think of it.

Life goes on, things happen, and we get through. It's not what happens, but how we deal with it that matters. We can either complain about the rain, or dance in it.