I'd expected to drive home at 8, eat a late dinner, do some laundry, re-learn Greek purpose clauses and those funky optative forms, and hit the sack right around now. Instead, this unfolded...
I didn't bring a book to read or my Greek book to review and finish my homework, so I'd spent my spare three hours in devotion to prayer and reading my Bible. I finished Proverbs, read through Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount, and prayed for thirty minutes before, rather prophetically, writing these words:
Pardon me, Father, but I ask for traveling mercies to return home, where I will continue to pray to You.
The clock struck eight, and as the last Westminster chimes were sounding, the wind clipped my now-bare neck as I strode towards the parking structure. I called home, to no response. The third time I gave up, guessing neither my brother or mother were home. I couldn't get a hold of my mother after four tries to her cell phone, and since I haven't re-married my phone to bluetooth yet, it wasn't the safest idea to be distracted in an emptying parking structure.
Bah. She never picks up her phone.
I drove past the freeway on-ramp towards the 85* Bakery and the Asian supermarket H-Mart. H-mart didn't hold any non-seafood rolls (I've got to get over my gluttonously picky eating disorder), and I tried my mother's cell phone as I walked over to the bakery.
"... ... ... ... Hello? Joseph?" My brother often answers my mother's phone if they're driving, but his voice caught. He choked back sobs and blurted out "I got in a car accident."
Suddenly my growling stomach quieted. Hunger would wait.
"What happened? Are you guys ok?"
"Yeah," he replied, "I'm perfectly fine, but Mom is in a lot of pain. She's still on the stretcher, but she's awake enough to sass me. She doesn't look like she has any broken bones... ... ... oh, God, why did this happen? She's been through so much already... the car hit her side... ... the tire was still burning and it smelled awful... I can still smell it... and I couldn't open her door, it was bent downwards from the crash... I wish she hadn't been in the car. She's three for three, now."
[My mother has been in three accidents now within the past three years, and she still suffers acute neck pain. My brother missed his driver's license "behind-the-wheel" test on Monday because he'd misplaced/lost his car's registration forms. If he'd passed...things would look differently today for sure.]
"Oh wow. Where are you guys?" All thoughts I'd originally had for the call vanished. It no longer mattered if there were leftovers from dinner or not. "Tell me about the accident."
"We're at Long Beach Community Hospital... call Grandpa for directions. We were coming from Costco and I couldn't see the guy in the oncoming lane, since it's a hill, right? I was making a left, and he was hidden somehow...Mom's airbag didn't work!" He sniffed and said "Mom wants you to go home and pick up the AETNA insurance papers that came... they're on the coffee table."
"Alright, I'll do that. I'll be right over, Calvin, alright? I'm really sorry this happened. Don't worry, I'll be there in a minute."
I'll be honest, reader, I exceeded the speed limit for much of the ride home (I drove 25 miles in 20 minutes), but I was careful to not endanger myself or my fellow drivers. (I figure I kept the spirit of the speed limit law, as I wasn't exceeding the freeway speed's average driver by much... but that's irrelevant.) I scooped up the envelopes my mother requested, and promptly forgot to grab something to eat.
When I arrived, it took Calvin about 15 minutes to calm down and explain to me over the phone which entrance they were close to-- turns out I got to rush through the ambulance entrance doors. He finally stepped outside so I could find him, and when I did, I ran to him and he broke down, collapsed and sobbing in my hug.
I've only been in the ER once, and only for my own violent reaction to the anti-nausea drug compazene, but that's again beside the point. The smell of hospital enveloped me. However, while he brought me, our mother had been moved to get X-rays to confirm that she had not broken any bones. Turns out she's got strong bones; I hope to have inherited that trait. Anyways, she took some painkillers, and then we hurried.... to wait. We sat there for four hours, and I did my best to make them laugh and talk and take their minds off the night. My mom laughs a lot more when she's under the influence of painkillers...
My mom laughed and said, "I'm three for three now; my boss is going to throw up his hands and say, 'Again?!' Also, it's funny that when I got in my last accident, I'd just filled my car with gas; this time, you [Joseph] had just changed Calvin's car's oil... oh! The groceries!"
The pharmacies were all closed at 11:30 when my mom was released, so we couldn't get her prescriptions filled. I don't know if I'll be able to finish my Greek homework by 12 noon.... today. !!
Calvin says he's going to have nightmares reliving those split-seconds.
The food was in the car, which probably will be imputed with the title "totaled," which is in a lot somewhere near our neighborhood. Regardless, the real goods were safe, and for that, I praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
I didn't bring a book to read or my Greek book to review and finish my homework, so I'd spent my spare three hours in devotion to prayer and reading my Bible. I finished Proverbs, read through Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount, and prayed for thirty minutes before, rather prophetically, writing these words:
Pardon me, Father, but I ask for traveling mercies to return home, where I will continue to pray to You.
The clock struck eight, and as the last Westminster chimes were sounding, the wind clipped my now-bare neck as I strode towards the parking structure. I called home, to no response. The third time I gave up, guessing neither my brother or mother were home. I couldn't get a hold of my mother after four tries to her cell phone, and since I haven't re-married my phone to bluetooth yet, it wasn't the safest idea to be distracted in an emptying parking structure.
Bah. She never picks up her phone.
I drove past the freeway on-ramp towards the 85* Bakery and the Asian supermarket H-Mart. H-mart didn't hold any non-seafood rolls (I've got to get over my gluttonously picky eating disorder), and I tried my mother's cell phone as I walked over to the bakery.
"... ... ... ... Hello? Joseph?" My brother often answers my mother's phone if they're driving, but his voice caught. He choked back sobs and blurted out "I got in a car accident."
Suddenly my growling stomach quieted. Hunger would wait.
"What happened? Are you guys ok?"
"Yeah," he replied, "I'm perfectly fine, but Mom is in a lot of pain. She's still on the stretcher, but she's awake enough to sass me. She doesn't look like she has any broken bones... ... ... oh, God, why did this happen? She's been through so much already... the car hit her side... ... the tire was still burning and it smelled awful... I can still smell it... and I couldn't open her door, it was bent downwards from the crash... I wish she hadn't been in the car. She's three for three, now."
[My mother has been in three accidents now within the past three years, and she still suffers acute neck pain. My brother missed his driver's license "behind-the-wheel" test on Monday because he'd misplaced/lost his car's registration forms. If he'd passed...things would look differently today for sure.]
"Oh wow. Where are you guys?" All thoughts I'd originally had for the call vanished. It no longer mattered if there were leftovers from dinner or not. "Tell me about the accident."
"We're at Long Beach Community Hospital... call Grandpa for directions. We were coming from Costco and I couldn't see the guy in the oncoming lane, since it's a hill, right? I was making a left, and he was hidden somehow...Mom's airbag didn't work!" He sniffed and said "Mom wants you to go home and pick up the AETNA insurance papers that came... they're on the coffee table."
"Alright, I'll do that. I'll be right over, Calvin, alright? I'm really sorry this happened. Don't worry, I'll be there in a minute."
I'll be honest, reader, I exceeded the speed limit for much of the ride home (I drove 25 miles in 20 minutes), but I was careful to not endanger myself or my fellow drivers. (I figure I kept the spirit of the speed limit law, as I wasn't exceeding the freeway speed's average driver by much... but that's irrelevant.) I scooped up the envelopes my mother requested, and promptly forgot to grab something to eat.
When I arrived, it took Calvin about 15 minutes to calm down and explain to me over the phone which entrance they were close to-- turns out I got to rush through the ambulance entrance doors. He finally stepped outside so I could find him, and when I did, I ran to him and he broke down, collapsed and sobbing in my hug.
I've only been in the ER once, and only for my own violent reaction to the anti-nausea drug compazene, but that's again beside the point. The smell of hospital enveloped me. However, while he brought me, our mother had been moved to get X-rays to confirm that she had not broken any bones. Turns out she's got strong bones; I hope to have inherited that trait. Anyways, she took some painkillers, and then we hurried.... to wait. We sat there for four hours, and I did my best to make them laugh and talk and take their minds off the night. My mom laughs a lot more when she's under the influence of painkillers...
My mom laughed and said, "I'm three for three now; my boss is going to throw up his hands and say, 'Again?!' Also, it's funny that when I got in my last accident, I'd just filled my car with gas; this time, you [Joseph] had just changed Calvin's car's oil... oh! The groceries!"
The pharmacies were all closed at 11:30 when my mom was released, so we couldn't get her prescriptions filled. I don't know if I'll be able to finish my Greek homework by 12 noon.... today. !!
Calvin says he's going to have nightmares reliving those split-seconds.
The food was in the car, which probably will be imputed with the title "totaled," which is in a lot somewhere near our neighborhood. Regardless, the real goods were safe, and for that, I praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
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