The Fragility of Life

I saw a man die yesterday.

I got off work around 2:15 and headed down Kennedy Drive to my apartment. As I got to the intersection of Kennedy and North I saw something unusual. A car had driven inexplicably into a pole on the right side of the road. Now, this intersection is a T, so the car had wrecked in someone's front lawn. As I got closer to the accident I realized it had JUST happened. Steam was still coming from the torn-apart engine. Several people were running toward the car. A man was simply pacing back and forth. I had been in the right lane, so I eventually got a chance to look inside as I drove by.

What I saw haunted me. What I saw was an image I will probably remember for the rest of my life.

At first I could make out one woman in the back seat behind the driver. Limped over and unconscious. As I was directly to the side though, I made out the driver and passenger. The passenger was another woman, head back and unconscious as well. As I got a good look at the driver, I immediately knew he was dead. I don't know how or why I knew, but I just knew. He was an old man with white hair. He was slumped over the steering column. Lifeless.

I was absolutely frightened. Should I stop and get out? I didn't know what I could do and several people were already there. Instead, I called 911 and reported the accident.

As I continued to think about it, I wondered how in the world the accident could have possibly occurred. People don't just drive off the road in the middle of the day on a busy street. I figured the man had to have suffered some sort of medical issue, perhaps a heart attack. Something that would force him to lose control of the vehicle. I tried to imagine that split second of terror that the two women must have felt before impact, when they realized their dad/husband was no longer in control. Then I thought of how precious life is. How precious my family and friends are and continue to be to me.

You are guaranteed nothing beyond this exact moment. Refuse to live a life that does not honor that fact.

I love you all very deeply.

A Few Thoughts

Just a few thoughts:

Had a wonderful break back home with some very good friends from high school. Miss them dearly!

On my way back here I stopped at an Arby's at 11:00 to get some food. They were SWAMPED from the drive-thru and obviously understaffed (I counted three people doing everything!). I was second in line to an elderly couple inside the restaurant. The woman had a bunch of coupons and was getting snippy with the man taking their order. At one point someone else came up to finish the order since the first person had to go take care of something. The second person was a little confused by the intricacies of the order and had to go over the receipt with the couple, trying to figure out who got what type of drink and so on. THEN, the waiting began! The couple had to wait about five minutes to get their order (with a full drive-thru and specialty orders) and they were NOT happy. Several times they made glaring remarks to me about how incompetent the people working there were. I just did my usual response (smiling and nodding, occasional laughter) and let them get it out of their system. They finally got their food (to an overabundance of apologies) and went to their seats. Guess what they immediately did upon sitting down? That's right, they held hands and prayed together! How sweet!

On Saturday I found my very first GeoCache!

I enjoyed the response to my previous entry and will update soon with potential hypotheses into why supposed "good" people act the nastiest of all toward people serving them.