Wreck....
Monday, August 1, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
Phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Hey, It's me. Ummm...I just totaled the car."
"What? No you didn't. Are you serious?"
Silence.
"Yeah."
"Oh, my gosh! Are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine. You are gonna have to come get me."
Shaking.
"What happened? Where are you?"
"Calm down. I'm ok. Everyone is ok. Just come get me."
"Ok. I'm on my way."
Some of you who are reading this have probably already had an experience like this. I have NEVER had an experience like this. Car accidents happen all the time.....but never to me. Ryan called me with this news two weeks ago, Monday morning, on his way to work. He had been driving behind a silver Ford truck on Twin City Hwy at about 70 miles an hour (the accident happened right past Air Liquide in Nederland...right where the speed limit jumps to 70 mph). The truck was slowing down to turn left and Ryan was looking at the car that was passing next to him. When he turned to the front the truck was stopped to turn (there is no turn lane at this particular point in the hwy) and he hit the guy from behind. He was going so fast that he pushed both of them through the oncoming lanes of traffic on the other side of the highway. They both ended up on the shoulder on the complete other side of the hwy. I praise God every day that there was NO ONE coming in the other lanes that could've made this wreck any worse.
I loaded up my kids. I was shaking. Cade was asking questions and I snapped at him to be quiet. I didn't know, yet, about how bad the damage was. When I arrived there were no police, no tow trucks, no first responders....no one. I was relieved to see that both drivers were walking around with no blood, no damage to their immediate person. Then, I saw my Honda. Crushed. I was sad. This was our second NEW car to buy...MY first new car I had ever had. We bought it because the 2007 Honda dealerships were making room for the 2008 models and the sale was good. It was good on gas and that's what we were looking for. We would be using this car for traveling and our major vehicle for years to come. We would drive it till the "wheels fell off" is what we always said...lol. Now, it was gone. I went over in my head about what we were going to do. How would we get through this. First of all, I need to say that I'm not really a person who likes to make waves. I don't like to color outside of the lines. I like to blend in. I like to pay my bills on time and make sure that I don't get pulled over for speeding. Now, we were gonna have to deal with the mess of insurance companies and credit unions and loans and getting another car. WHAT A MESS!!!!
I was sick to my stomach with the money we had JUST PUT on this car.....new tires and gas the morning of the accident. NAUSEA.
So, the highway patrol came. She was very nice...gave Ryan a ticket. When the tow trucks finally got there (there were like 7 when they finally got there..lol) we were able to leave. They took the car to Precision Auto Body Shop and Ryan went to clean all our stuff out later that day.
I kept thinking in my mind, "I need to make sure I don't make Ryan feel guilty about wrecking the car. He knows what he did and I don't need to add to the upset." I did my best. Ryan started looking immediately for another vehicle to see what prices were out there. Nothing serious...just looking. He texted me that there was a used Nissan Z sitting on a lot somewhere. I got a little angry inside. I think the only thing I texted back was, "You know you are looking to replace MY car." When I hit send I realized how incredibly selfish it was that I was thinking, "It was your fault that you wrecked my car in the first place." He wasn't serious and I know he was thinking about doing whatever I wanted. He knew he was at fault and he didn't need me to tell him that. I have renewed my thinking since then and kept my mind open as to what we should do for another vehicle. Maybe it would be better for us to put him into a smaller car that is more fuel efficient since he works in Beaumont. I didn't know, because I still don't know what God has in store for us in the coming months.
We got a babysitter for this past Saturday and went out looking for another car to replace mine. The longer we looked the more I began to think, "Maybe we could just make it on one vehicle." The prices on used vehicles is absolutely ridiculous. Shouldn't you be able to go out and pay cash for a vehicle that is USED??? I mean, seriously...most of the vehicles we looked at (sedans and SUVs) cost nearly as much as a brand new car!!! I was sick, again....lol. The Honda was about 1 - 1 1/2 year from being paid off. I didn't want to get back into a huge note. The longer I thought about the "one vehicle" idea the more I thought how impossible it would be to make it since we will begin school this year and I would need to be able to be free to bring/pick Cade up at school. We HAD to have another vehicle.
We finally found something at Mike Smith Auto in Beaumont. It was a 2004 GMC Yukon Suburban. I wasn't sure I wanted such a large vehicle since gas is so high right now, but after I began thinking about it I was ok with the fact that it was a large vehicle and I don't drive a whole lot of places so it would probably even out as far as cost was concerned. I guess we will see..lol. The mileage wasn't high on the suburban but the year model concerned me. We test drove it and it seemed totally fine. We went home and thought a little more about it. Monday came and we decided that this would probably be a good option for us. And older vehicle, not too much mileage, all the options we wanted on it, plus the price was nice and left room for a 3 yr warranty. I was sold. It is sitting in my garage right now..lol.
Insurance totaled the Honda and sent out a check to pay off the existing loan and the rest was sent to us for whatever we needed. It actually worked out pretty well for us, considering we needed a larger vehicle for traveling purposes. If I had been the one to work it all out, though, all this would have never happened. I'm still not sure I understand why it had to happen THIS WAY, but God has bigger plans than me. I still don't know what those plans are, but we are getting closer to the unveiling. I'm still not sure I understand what He is even going to teach us through all this, except I know I trust Him and I know that, in the end, I will look back over all these experiences in my life and say, "I know God had His Hand over all of this. I wouldn't have been able to do it any better."
Thank You, Lord, for always watching out for me and my family. Thank You, Lord, thank you!!
Phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Hey, It's me. Ummm...I just totaled the car."
"What? No you didn't. Are you serious?"
Silence.
"Yeah."
"Oh, my gosh! Are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine. You are gonna have to come get me."
Shaking.
"What happened? Where are you?"
"Calm down. I'm ok. Everyone is ok. Just come get me."
"Ok. I'm on my way."
Some of you who are reading this have probably already had an experience like this. I have NEVER had an experience like this. Car accidents happen all the time.....but never to me. Ryan called me with this news two weeks ago, Monday morning, on his way to work. He had been driving behind a silver Ford truck on Twin City Hwy at about 70 miles an hour (the accident happened right past Air Liquide in Nederland...right where the speed limit jumps to 70 mph). The truck was slowing down to turn left and Ryan was looking at the car that was passing next to him. When he turned to the front the truck was stopped to turn (there is no turn lane at this particular point in the hwy) and he hit the guy from behind. He was going so fast that he pushed both of them through the oncoming lanes of traffic on the other side of the highway. They both ended up on the shoulder on the complete other side of the hwy. I praise God every day that there was NO ONE coming in the other lanes that could've made this wreck any worse.
I loaded up my kids. I was shaking. Cade was asking questions and I snapped at him to be quiet. I didn't know, yet, about how bad the damage was. When I arrived there were no police, no tow trucks, no first responders....no one. I was relieved to see that both drivers were walking around with no blood, no damage to their immediate person. Then, I saw my Honda. Crushed. I was sad. This was our second NEW car to buy...MY first new car I had ever had. We bought it because the 2007 Honda dealerships were making room for the 2008 models and the sale was good. It was good on gas and that's what we were looking for. We would be using this car for traveling and our major vehicle for years to come. We would drive it till the "wheels fell off" is what we always said...lol. Now, it was gone. I went over in my head about what we were going to do. How would we get through this. First of all, I need to say that I'm not really a person who likes to make waves. I don't like to color outside of the lines. I like to blend in. I like to pay my bills on time and make sure that I don't get pulled over for speeding. Now, we were gonna have to deal with the mess of insurance companies and credit unions and loans and getting another car. WHAT A MESS!!!!
I was sick to my stomach with the money we had JUST PUT on this car.....new tires and gas the morning of the accident. NAUSEA.
So, the highway patrol came. She was very nice...gave Ryan a ticket. When the tow trucks finally got there (there were like 7 when they finally got there..lol) we were able to leave. They took the car to Precision Auto Body Shop and Ryan went to clean all our stuff out later that day.
I kept thinking in my mind, "I need to make sure I don't make Ryan feel guilty about wrecking the car. He knows what he did and I don't need to add to the upset." I did my best. Ryan started looking immediately for another vehicle to see what prices were out there. Nothing serious...just looking. He texted me that there was a used Nissan Z sitting on a lot somewhere. I got a little angry inside. I think the only thing I texted back was, "You know you are looking to replace MY car." When I hit send I realized how incredibly selfish it was that I was thinking, "It was your fault that you wrecked my car in the first place." He wasn't serious and I know he was thinking about doing whatever I wanted. He knew he was at fault and he didn't need me to tell him that. I have renewed my thinking since then and kept my mind open as to what we should do for another vehicle. Maybe it would be better for us to put him into a smaller car that is more fuel efficient since he works in Beaumont. I didn't know, because I still don't know what God has in store for us in the coming months.
We got a babysitter for this past Saturday and went out looking for another car to replace mine. The longer we looked the more I began to think, "Maybe we could just make it on one vehicle." The prices on used vehicles is absolutely ridiculous. Shouldn't you be able to go out and pay cash for a vehicle that is USED??? I mean, seriously...most of the vehicles we looked at (sedans and SUVs) cost nearly as much as a brand new car!!! I was sick, again....lol. The Honda was about 1 - 1 1/2 year from being paid off. I didn't want to get back into a huge note. The longer I thought about the "one vehicle" idea the more I thought how impossible it would be to make it since we will begin school this year and I would need to be able to be free to bring/pick Cade up at school. We HAD to have another vehicle.
We finally found something at Mike Smith Auto in Beaumont. It was a 2004 GMC Yukon Suburban. I wasn't sure I wanted such a large vehicle since gas is so high right now, but after I began thinking about it I was ok with the fact that it was a large vehicle and I don't drive a whole lot of places so it would probably even out as far as cost was concerned. I guess we will see..lol. The mileage wasn't high on the suburban but the year model concerned me. We test drove it and it seemed totally fine. We went home and thought a little more about it. Monday came and we decided that this would probably be a good option for us. And older vehicle, not too much mileage, all the options we wanted on it, plus the price was nice and left room for a 3 yr warranty. I was sold. It is sitting in my garage right now..lol.
Insurance totaled the Honda and sent out a check to pay off the existing loan and the rest was sent to us for whatever we needed. It actually worked out pretty well for us, considering we needed a larger vehicle for traveling purposes. If I had been the one to work it all out, though, all this would have never happened. I'm still not sure I understand why it had to happen THIS WAY, but God has bigger plans than me. I still don't know what those plans are, but we are getting closer to the unveiling. I'm still not sure I understand what He is even going to teach us through all this, except I know I trust Him and I know that, in the end, I will look back over all these experiences in my life and say, "I know God had His Hand over all of this. I wouldn't have been able to do it any better."
Thank You, Lord, for always watching out for me and my family. Thank You, Lord, thank you!!
Comments
Thanks for your hugs!! I miss you, Becky.