May 23, 2011

I'm planning on encasing him in bubblewrap and locking him in the attic for the next twenty years

This is a post I've tried to post all weekend - but since I was hormonal, emotional and Blogger wouldn't cooperate maybe it's best I waited......

Okay - to catch us all up to speed......

I've been a tad stressed lately.  (for maybe the past year or so....who's counting?)

Friday?  Friday was the worst of the worst.

Seriously.



Friday, as I was talking to a co-worker/friend about the memorial service of our other co-worker's wife (it was hard! He was broken.  Completely and totally broken - AND when he came in to work this morning it was even worse) that had taken place the night before when I received a call from a strange number.  

It was Man-Child telling me he'd been in a wreck.  Not an "accident" but a WRECK.  He sounded more terrified than I'd ever heard him.

My friend, having no idea what was going on but having ascertained it wasn't good, just shooed me out saying, "Go.  Just go!"

I kept him on the phone as I ran for the elevator.

I asked what happened.  He'd run off the road.  He said he hit a tree.  I asked if he was alone; he wasn't.  He handed to phone over to the woman who was with him.  The one he'd gone to for help.

She gave me directions and promised to stay with him until I got there.  She told me to drive safely.

Obviously, she's a mother.  She understood.

Needless to say, I drove like a bat out of hell - as safely as I could.  

When I pulled up on the scene of the accident, I was almost in tears.

The car was in a ditch, practically in the woods.

But my son, my heart, was walking toward me without a scratch on him.

When I got out of the car he fell into my arms and I just held him.

I haven't seen him this upset and shaken EVER.  

Me?  Well, I haven't been right since. 

Apparently, he was going a tad too fast around a curve, took his eyes off the road for a second.....that's all it takes.

He side-swiped a traffic sign and a couple of trees and landed in the ditch on a lonely, un-traveled back road. Where God only knows how long it would have taken for him to be found had the accident been worse.

Thank God he didn't hit a tree head-on.  Thank God he walked away from it.

You know, I was told when I was pregnant that I would soon feel a love that I'd never felt before.  I was told that this child of mine would become the focus of my life.  But no one ever told me how it would feel to have my heart walking around outside of my body.

I know that he has been scared by all this; I know it. With the benefit of youth and that "I am invincible" attitude that only teens can have he is getting over it.  But I have been traumatized.  This incident has scarred my very soul.  The "what if's" are pinging around in my head.  

The other two accidents were just that; we can laugh about them now.  But this?  This could have been life-changing.

I have informed him, in no uncertain terms, that he is not to have anymore accidents/wrecks because my heart certainly can't take it.  Especially since it's walking around outside my body, unprotected.  Hopefully, he's learned something.

And to that woman?  That stranger that stayed with my child and made sure he was okay for the 15-20 minutes it took me to get there - I can't thank you enough.  You are a hero to me.

14 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness. Thank God he was not hurt. They grow up, but they NEVER stop being our babies!

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  2. Oh Gigi, I cried when I read that he collapsed in your arms. They always need their mommy's no matter how old they get. I'm so thankful he is OK.

    Take a few deep breaths, pray that his insurance doesn't sky-rocket, and ground him until he's 30. OK, maybe 25 when that insurance rate drops back down.

    And to that woman who stayed with him- bless you. You are an angel here on earth.

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  3. Hi - I am asking for fellow bloggers to visit my site in hopes that we can find a match for a young girl that desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. Would be great if you could visit today too. Thank you. Kelly
    http://ivebecomemymother.blogspot.com/2011/05/help-save-child-urgent-request.html
    I've Become My Mother
    I've Become My Mother facebook

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  4. Oh my goodness - you did have quite the weekend!

    I was actually sobbing when I read this - it really struck close to home for me. First, because I also have a son who will be driving in just a few months and it scares me to death. Secondly, because 15 years ago my 26 year old baby brother was killed in a car accident. It was the exact same scenario as your son's wreck - except that he DID hit the tree head on and was killed instantly.

    Please tell your son how lucky he is and to let it be a lesson to him (I'm sure it will be!) Our family is still heartbroken even after all these years.

    I'm sending you a big ol' virtual hug...I think you probably need it!

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  5. Gigi, I can soooo sympathize. I have four kids and have had those calls. Three for car wrecks, one call from a paramedic as they were extracting my son from his upside down vehicle, to transport him to the hospital. Another time wasn't a car wreck, but when my oldest son fell 30 feet through a skylight, while on the roof of a business and he called me from the back of an ambulance, after breaking his back. I know the heartbreaking stress and worry, of a mother, for her child/children. It never goes away, they are always your children, even when they are grown.

    Thank the Lord MC is ok. I've thanked him many times for watching after mine.

    God bless you.

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  6. This has got to be the hardest part of being a parent: watching our children living their lives and we cannot protect them. Thank God he is okay this time and won't make the same mistake again...

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  8. Nooooooooooo! As you know I have one of these man-children too. He'll be going to traffic school on Saturday. I hope they show him terrible videos. So glad he is OK. My mother's heart goes out to you!

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  9. My heart goes out to you and also to Ivankuiken who lost her brother. My daughter is learning to drive now and in a few years time my son will be 18 and old enough to drive and I know he will be just like your man child. I hope that this will make him an ultra cautious driver from now on.

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  10. I am crying.
    And sending bubble wrap.
    No more driving. How scary. How terribly scary.

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  11. Holy crap Gigi! For frack sakes, if Derek or another loved on had gotten in 3 accidents in a few months I'd probably have to put them in a bubble so that I would know they'd be safe and I'd stay sane!

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  12. Oh God! My heart started hurting just reading this. This isn't fair, why do they have to do things like drive long before we are ready? When Mo leaves the house there will be one more name on the prayer list!

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  13. *tears in my eyes* I'm so glad he was okay!

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  14. You need wine more than me girlfriend. I cannot even imagine that fear. And I always say the same thing, my heart is walking around outside my body in my two kids bodies. Soooo glad he is okay!!! Hugs!

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