My mind raced as I tried to imagine how bad it could be. Teresa and I had hopped in the car and gone to pick up Dad at Walmart before heading out to the scene. As we crested the hill on highway 27, we could see lights flashing and a crowd gathered at the intersection and off into the field.
The field?
Why are there people in the field? I wondered.
Then I saw the old 94 Dodge Ram sitting off the road, on the North-West corner of the intersection. At first, I thought it was a permanent fixture of the landscape, an old beat-up vehicle no longer in use and left to add character to the Colorado plain. But as we drew closer, I realized it was the truck that had hit the minivan Mom was driving.
The front end was completely smashed in. Tire tracks led from that corner of the intersection out into a field, through a fence now broken to smithereens. My parents’ blue minivan sat about one hundred yards out into the field. A couple of ambulances already sat there beside it. Medical personnel already at work. My sister Carita stood next to my sister Kristi, who was clearly dealing with some shock. My brother Christopher laid on a medical board on the ground, with a brace around his neck.
And then I saw Mom, also on a medical board on the ground.
Dad was already beside her, talking to her. Her eyes were closed. She was sort of twitching and mumbling, but not saying anything coherently. I remember her cheek looked really bruised, but just looking at her one wouldn’t have seen any major physical damages.
It never crossed my mind she was dying right in front of me.
You never anticipate tragedy. When you hear that someone you loved has suffered a major accident, your mind doesn’t go immediately to death. You might wonder how bad it is or whether she’s had any major injuries, but you don’t assume the worst. And that’s how it should be.
We expect life to continue as normal. Perhaps this would be a setback—maybe even a major one—but eventually, things will all be the same again.
Nobody ever thinks of or plans for the icy cold grip of death slithering up beside them and kissing them on the cheek.
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