Friday the 13th...

We all have those days in our lives that will be remembered by us, and unfortunately, those that know us, forever. My date that will go down in flaming infamous history as the story always told on Friday the 13th, is this one...

It was a Friday the13th in 1996, December I believe, which was also my mom's birthday. I had a new baby at home, and we had been married about a year and a half. My husband had just started working 3rd shift and was adjusting to the night schedule. He worked about 25 minutes away, and managed to make it almost all the way home one morning - literally almost all the way home. Just before the corner of our road, he fell asleep, crossed traffic and put the car in the ditch. This ditch is a good 6 foot drop into a creek bed. He woke up with wet feet ... The semi that he had crossed over in front of stopped to make sure he was okay and called the police. Eventually they called me, I dropped the baby off with his Grandma (next door) and headed down the road (three driveways) to the site of the accident.

I decided to drive down (the whole 3 driveways) because my husband had all of his USMC gear in the trunk of his car, as he had just had a drill weekend the weekend before. Now, at this time in our life we had our friend's truck, who was stationed in Hawaii for the USMC. So, I took his truck...

Down at the accident site, we loaded all the gear into the bed of the truck, I removed the car seat from the car, and they told me to go ahead and head home. The side of the road was crowded, tow truck still trying to get the car out of the creek and a flat bed tow because the car was pretty much totalled, to put the car on, as well as the police cars, the semi that had stopped and a couple other bystanders that had stopped as well. I was parked on the road facing South and of course needed to go North to turn back onto our road.

So, I pull a U turn to head back home... WHAM! You guessed it, I managed to slam right into a poor elderly lady who was headed South. I swear I checked my mirrors and didn't see any traffic, but with all the other vehicles lined up I missed her. The collision sent me flying into the windshield (in the days before seat belt laws), knocks a tire off our friend's truck, which manages to miss the police officer (it's so lovely to have a State Trooper witness the worst moment in your life), the tow truck driver and my husband by inches... My husband said he could feel the breeze of the tire as it went flying by.

They called an ambulance for the poor old lady that became involved in the crazy mess because she thought she was having a heart attack, the officer, who had just written my husband a ticket for careless driving (falling asleep), had to turn around and give me a ticket for an improper turn. And let me tell you, there is nothing more humbling than having an accident and having about 5 guys watch it happen, they already think we woman drivers are terrible as it is, right? My only saving grace was that my husband had his accident first!

Needless to say, it was a very bad day. However, on the bright side, the officer that witnessed the entire debacle, called us back about 2 hours later when he was finished writing up what must have been one of the most interesting reports in his short career. He called to say that he was also a new parent, newly married, etc... and that he just felt so bad for us (it was definitely a pity party). Anyway, he called to say that he tore up my husband's ticket and that we would only have to worry about mine (I'm sure being a witness to mine pretty much cinched that mine would never get dismissed or tore up).

My mother and mother-in-law called me on about every Friday the 13th after that mess, just to make sure I was safe... What a crazy mess. But, it does make for an interesting story on every Friday the 13th. And, being the optimist that I am, it wasn't such a bad day. We had insurance on both vehicles, my son was not involved in either of the accidents thank goodness, neither of us were injured, the elderly lady I hit did not have a heart attack or any other serious injuries, and the officer felt pity for us and tore up a ticket saving us $100 in fees.

So there it is, the Infamous Friday the 13th story that my friends and family love to tell, and will never forget...