When Fate Comes Knocking

There are many forms of accident that can result in death. Vehicular death has been portrayed in folk songs on more than one occasion. “The Drunken Driver” tells the story of two small children who were killed as they walked along a state highway. One of the deceased children turns out to be the drunken driver’s son. “The Fatal Wreck of Bus” is the true tale of mass death when a bus goes over a cliff. Last week, both my son and I had just left the house to go to a store so he could pick up the “Transformers” movie that had just been released. He always has to have the latest damned movies that come out for whatever reason that may be.

Unbeknownst to us until an hour later, three people were killed in less than 15 minutes from where we had just driven…..approx. 5 minutes from my house to be exact! On our way home, I could not for the life of me figure out why there was a sudden back up of traffic. The road we go down to get to my home is never that full of traffic. After all, I live in the ouskirts of town, not downtown and NOT in a large city. We heard over head helicopters and my son said they were television news copters. Oh great! An accident! I’m less than 2 miles from my house and CAN’T get there because of a car accident. We could not get close enough to find out what was going on. After realizing the traffic jam was going to be for HOURS, my son had a revelation that he knew a back way home.

Okay….I turned around and back tracked. His “short cut” to our home took me nearly 45 minutes out of my way because we had to go back and around through a very winding, country road that scared the crap out of me for more reasons than one! While some people would take in the beauty of such a road, I on the other hand have visions of “Michael” from Halloween awaiting darkness to fall and for my car to run out of gas so he can Knife me to my horror! I panic! My car was low on gas…it was getting dark and I was on some damned country winding road I had never been on before and my son is suddenly telling me he FORGOT which road we were suppose to take to get us the back way to my house! Oh MY GOD! My mind is playing reruns of horror flicks….you know the ones! I don’t even have to mention them….Texas Chainsaw massacre….Halloween…..yeah…all of them! My son is laughing because I’m freaking out saying how he knew I hated roads like this and how I absolutely hate being out on such roads when its getting dark especially when I don’t have a full tank of gas to even begin getting lost. (I hear your laughter so calm down people! I can’t handle horror movies at all nor do I watch them!)

Well, 45 minutes later my son figures out what road we were suppose to turn on and we finally make it back home. I was sooo upset that I couldn’t even breathe a sigh of relief of finally making it back home. My son still laughing was like “See? What are you freaking out about? I told you I knew the backway home!” Oh man…..you deserve a punch in the face kid! (he’s an adult so don’t go calling social services just yet!) When I get inside, I immediately turn on the tv so that I can see why the hell I nearly had a panic attack and having to possibly meet my death through an ax weilding killer…perhaps an escape convict just waiting for a woman and her son to be sitting in the dark, out of gas on the side of a long, country winding road…I don’t know….I said my mind fills with horrific fantasies when I panic…..

Unfortunately three people were killed just 2 miles from my house. One man, who lives not far from me died when 3 men in a pick up truck from Tennessee swerved straight into him and hit his truck head on. There was only 1 survivor in the truck carrying three men from out of state. Wow! It made me sad to think that all of these men got up that morning….had their usual day planned out…since it was later in the afternoon, they had spent all day doing whatever it was they were doing and then suddenly, now they are dead. Poof! Their life taken just in a blink of an eye. It really hit home with me too because we had just driven in the same direction just 15 minutes BEFORE the accident, on the very same road. Then it made me wonder about death in general. How it is we come to no longer exist and how it is we suddenly find our fate on the same trail as someone else. None of these men knew each other and yet, fate brought them together at that very point in time to exist no more. Heavy!

I had a revelation about that accident and that was that as people in general, we should appreciate each and every day that we have because we never know from the moment we get up out of bed what fate has planned for us. A simple trip to the store could be deadly. This man who died and who lived not too far from me, was just coming home from work. I read the next day in the newspaper (it was the biggest thing that had happened here in a long time) that his friends actually saw the accident on the news and immediately got into their trucks and tried to get to him at the accident site. Police held them at bay. He was airlifted to the hospital but died on the way. I am sure, like each and every day, his wife was waiting for him to get home from work and more than likely had supper on the table waiting for him. Many people here in our area are country folk who still have traditional values. So many people around here own cattle and farms in our area. This gentleman was a plumber and was coming home from from a hard days work. I am sure the men from Tennessee were heading toward the interstate that would carry them to I-40 that would take them back home if they were just visiting. Who knows what their travels were.

But as I said, the accident left me with things to consider where death is concerned. Life is very short and we never know when our day will be the last. We should always appreciate those around us and always be thankful for the things that we have. Stop taking life so damned serious! Accidents, or unintentional injuries, accounted for 106,742 deaths in 2002, more than HIV, assault, and suicide combined. Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are responsible for nearly half of all types of accidental deaths, far outweighing all other causes.

This year multiple new traffic safety laws have been implemented to help lower the amount of deaths caused by MVAs, which in 2002 resulted in 43,354 deaths. Some laws are aimed at limiting in-car distractions, such as the use of television or video screens that are in the driver’s line of vision, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Even still, I am confused as to what made the truck who was traveling on a highway going in the opposite direction to swerve into the man who lived not far from me. Did he take his eyes off of the road for a few minutes? Was he looking for a cell phone? Trying to dial on a cell phone? Chatting with his son who was sitting behind his seat and who was the only survivor in the accident? We’ll never know what caused the accident but one thing is for sure……we all need to appreciate each day that we are given. Each and every day is precious.