Monica and I began training at our job at "Your Bulletin Board" in Fairmont not long before Christmas. We had only been at the job a few days when the weather started to sour.
The night before the accident we had had some nasty weather and it took us 2 hours to get home from work. (Normally, it's an hour.) We ran into someone else who had had a wreck, and it was just a long, long ride home. So, the next morning I almost wanted to stay home--we had been told by our boss that if the weather was bad, we didn't have to come in. (And it was Monica's birthday, for Pete's sake! Sorry, Pete!) Hindsight is always better, huh! We decided to go ahead and get to work, even though the temperature was quite cold. At the end of our road, I decided to go a different route to work since the other way had been treacherous. We got to Route 7 and were doing alright. The road looked wet, but clear. We rumbled over something, and it didn't alarm me because I didn't even realize what it was. I soon found out what that was as we rounded that fateful bend and headed down a little incline. All of a sudden, the car started sliding into the left lane and I was no longer in control of the Subaru.
What was it they tell you to do when you hit ice? Go WITH the slide, go against it? And what can you do when you hit black ice? I was basically terrified and tried to turn the wheel, and the rest happened so fast there was no time to do anything else. I must have hit the brake as well, as my right calf was so stiff and sore the next day. We slid down the road sideways, and then did a 180 and ended up in the ditch facing the direction from which we had just come. When the car started tipping, that's when I started to wonder where we were going to end up. Those seconds during the chaos seemed like an eternity. Monica started to yell and then all of a sudden the car stopped.
Whew. There was instant relief and unbelief as we realized the car had stopped. I put the car into park (like we were really going to go anywhere!) and said, "Let's get out, Mon. We need to get out." I opened the door, saw steam coming from the back, and said, "Turn the ignition off." As if that was really important, either! There was eggnog and tea all over the window on the passenger side, and the liquid had glued a cassette tape and several church tracts to the window.
We were at a very interesting angle and this made it difficult to climb out--besides the fact that I had on stupid slides and Monica was wearing some real tall shoes--but we staggered over to a vacant driveway. The first thing I did was call Mom. The cell phone happened to be in my pocket--otherwise it might have been ruined in all that mess in the car. There was one lady who stopped and appeared to be trying to ask us if we needed help, but traffic was backing up and she decided to move on. I was still on the phone talking to Dad and Mom when another man in a truck did ask us if we needed help and offered to drive us back to Kingwood.
By the time I was off the phone with Dad and Mom, a highway patrolman was there along with a wrecker. One tough looking lady kept asking me where we wanted the car towed. I was getting a little ticked because we were trying to get our purses and other items of value out of the car (per instructions from the man with the truck) while perched at a very steep angle. I had no idea where to tow the blessed car! Finally I asked if they could tow it to Kingwood, but then they decided to just pick the next service on rotation.
Meanwhile Mon was holding the door open with her foot and trying to hand me stuff. I felt distracted by the people asking me about the towing and so I could hardly get all the junk she was giving me. I was also a bit upset that the people who were supposed to be helping us get our car towed wouldn't even help us get our junk out of it. I did have my boots with me and when Mon passed them to me, I just threw them out by the side of the road. We finally were done with that to the degree that we were able and headed over to the officer to answer questions. (But not before I put some boots on.) I was able to get through all of that clearly enough, but by the time we headed to the truck to go back to Kingwood where Dad would meet us, I was spent. The shock of it all was hitting me and I couldn't hardly talk after that for a while. I hadn't screamed during the accident at all. Usually I just gasp real loud when anything happens to scare me. But now that I could finally think about what had happened, the tears came.
The nice gentleman who took us back was very kind. He said up the road towards Mon County (where we had been headed) there was another accident. "If you had made it to the Mon County line just about a mile from here, you would have been fine. There wasn't any more ice that way." He also told me that "to your credit, it's pretty slick out today". He took us to the insurance company he manages in Kingwood and his staff got us some water. I was still unable to control the tears, but I did call our insurance company and relayed all necessary information. Later Dad picked us up and we made a stop at McDs for a cup of comfort and a moment of rest while we figured out where the car was.
Later I remembered that window of the car--all splattered with eggnog, tea, and what-have-you. I could see the tract stuck so clearly to the window. The title read, "The Lord is My Shepherd". Somehow it seemed like a special message from the Lord, reminding me that He was in control. The questions were there, haunting me: why had I turned the wheel that way? why did I decide to go that route to work? why hadn't I stayed home from work? Why?
There's really no answer to that except to say that the Lord is my Shepherd...He knew all along that would happen, and He was guiding us...perhaps even if I had turned the wheel the right way, it would have still happened that way, or may have been worse. There wasn't anyone around when it happened, and we can praise Him that we didn't hit anyone or hurt ourselves. And He provided someone to help us right when we needed it.
For almost a month, we had to "hitch" a ride to work. Thankfully, our bosses are very understanding and they allowed us some time to rest and relax the first few days after the accident. Uncle Dave and Aunt Polly, who live 5 miles from "Your Bulletin Board", graciously agreed to allow us to stay in their home during the winter months. We have enjoyed being able to spend some extra time with them. There were also several people who helped us to get back and forth to work free of charge.
And today we finally went out and bought another vehicle. It's a 2000 Subaru Outback with some miles on it, but it has had only one owner and hopefully will last for a while yet. We are thankful for God's continued protection and love for us. Thanks to all of you for praying, as well!
