Here's the story...

So you saw the car, now I'll tell you what happened.

It was in June of 2002. Before I became a SAHM, I was the Downtown Director/Event Planner for the town I live in. In June, we have a county-wide festival to celebrate our peaches. Woo-Hoo!

So on this particular evening Baby Sassy (who was 9 months old) & I were "making our appearance" at one of the festival events, when it started lighting & looking like rain. Not wanting to get stuck in a downpour, I decided we had stayed long enough.

We live about 9 miles from the event location, 2 miles through town & 7 miles down a curvy state highway "back road". We made it through town & about halfway home in my wonderful 1998 black Volvo wagon when the downpour hit. Seriously. A flash flood.

Okay so I'm already not a big fan of driving in the rain, especially not with my sweet baby. I've got my wipers full blast, hazard lights on & driving like 35 miles an hour! And sure enough, the next thing I know a Ford F-150 pickup truck is heading straight towards me. F-150 on the left side, deep gully/raven on the right, there's no where for me to go. So I just brace myself & pray.

It happened so quick. My car stopped about 10 feet from the gully due to the fact that the engine dropped acting as an anchor. Afterwards, all I knew was that I was okay, still alive, nothing life-threatening. However I couldn't move my legs, not like paralyzed, like stuck. I was pinned in. And Baby Sassy is screaming in her backward-facing carseat. That was the worst part, I couldn't see my baby.

All the sudden, an "angel" in the form of a volunteer firefighter showed up at my window. He witnessed the whole thing. He asked me if I was all right, I said "Yes, I'm fine. Please check on my baby!" He did & she was fine. Just very pissed up! :D

At some point, either before or right after, I reached for my cell phone to call Retro. At this particular time I had 2 cell phones, a BellSouth Mobility phone (that I mainly used) & a new Nextel phone (that we had just gotten for the farm). My BellSouth phone was no where to be found, but "luckily?" my Nextel phone was plugged into the charger so I just had to reel it in from the floorboard. This phone normally would have no service in this particular area, but at this moment it had all the bars. I called Retro to tell him what happened & where I'm at, which was about 2 miles from my house. And about 5 miles from my parent's.

So before long, the EMS, Retro, my parents, his parents, numerous volunteer firefighters, sheriff deputies & who knows who else were on the scene. Baby Sassy is rescued from the car, without a scratch, soaking wet & mad as a little wet hen. I, on the other hand, get to spend the next 45 minutes getting cut out of my lovely black Volvo wagon with the Jaws of Life. What fun!

Then for even more entertainment, I get to be strapped to a backboard for what seemed like FOR-EVER! Baby Sassy has to get strapped back into a carseat & gets to ride in the ambulance with Mommy. One of the worst parts, was in the ambulance the EMT has to cut off me the cutest pair of pink & green tropical print capri pants that I had just bought at Stein Mart. I begged him to let me take them off, but no deal. Later, my BFF went back & bought me another pair but they just didn't fit the same.

While I was strapped down, my BFF's future ex-husband came into the ER to see me. He was on my bad list at that moment & I told him, "You better be glad I'm strapped to this board, because if I wasn't I would beat your $#*!" Good times.

The backboard was a major pain because besides the cuts on my face (lovely stitches), the only thing that hurt was my left wrist & knee. My wrist was broken pretty bad (major surgery) & my knee was just badly bruised from being pinned in by the dash (just a leg brace).

That wreck was my one & hopefully only brush with death. So many miracles happened that day. I know I am truly blessed.

But just to be on the safe side, I do my best NOT to drive during bad weather.