Life is Fragile

It's 6:40 in the morning.  My daughter is going into work early to set up a new promo.  She proceeds down Cannonsburg road like she's done hundreds of times before.  Suddenly there is an impact.  Her Envoy is pushed across the center turn lane, then across the eastbound lane and up a small embankment.  The police are there immediately, then the ambulances, then the fire truck.  Fifteen minutes behind her is her husband, also heading to work.  He comes upon the accident, unsure about the white SUV that he sees on the side of the small hill.  As he gets closer he can see a familiar orange tote in the back of the vehicle and instantly asks where the girl is from the white Envoy.  By this time she is secure in the ambulance, alert.  She says 'hi, honey' as he leans over her.  

This was the scene yesterday morning.  A dark blue Chevy GT came roaring down a side street heading for Cannonsburg Road.  The 19 year old driver didn't stop at the stop sign, didn't even try to stop.  No skid marks were found at the scene except for those of the Envoy moving sideways across Cannonsburg Road.  The young man is in serious condition, he was not wearing a seat belt.  

God protected her.  I envision His arms wrapped around her, holding her close, protecting her from all the flying debris.  No broken bones.  Minor cuts, but serious bruising.  With medication, she is moving around today.  

When we went to remove her personal items from the vehicle, my legs felt weak and my stomach sick as we approached her SUV.  It's one thing to know that a life was spared, but to see the severity of the damage to the vehicle is another thing entirely.  The love I feel for my daughter is profound, and my life would change forever without her.  I hugged her many times yesterday.

This was the passenger side front - wheel is gone.

Can you see why my heart sank.  Had she been traveling in the other direction, the story would have had a much different ending.

We searched frantically for her telephone, she'd used it recently to capture some family photographs.  She also was concerned about her contacts list, but the phone was no where to be found.

The offending vehicle was parked nearby so we looked through, what appeared to be, debris swept up from the crash site and deposited in his car.  But found nothing.

After picking up meds at the pharmacy we went to the scene of the accident.  All she wanted was her phone, her lifeline to her friends and family.  She'd lost her car, which had been a good friend to her, that was loss enough.

We had probably only been at the scene about 5 minutes when I heard Kathy say 'is that my phone?'.  Buried in the dirt, her eagle eyes had spotted it.  It looked pretty beat up.  She was just grateful that it was intact, and knew that her pictures and contacts could be saved.  She also found her favorite glass here which had been filled with a protein shake. She had seen the path the shake had traveled,  there was a distinct splash across the roof of the car and out the passenger window.  She was so grateful as we pulled away.  We were all grateful, in more ways than one. 

After we arrived home, I asked her if she'd tried to turn the phone on, she said no and touched the on button.  The phone lit up with life!  We removed the protective front plastic and the glass underneath was perfect.  We slipped the plastic cover off the back, and cleaned it up.  Her phone was fine.

Yes, life is fragile, life is precious, life is priceless.  I am humbled by the grace of God today as I celebrate the life of my daughter.

Today, hug those that you love and thank our precious Lord and Savior for the time he has given us to be with them.