You See What Had Happened Was......

My worst fear came true on Tuesday, October 6, at around 12:45pm - I received a phone call that every parent fears - my son Steven had been in a car accident.  The call was from him, and he was all hyper and upset and sounded like he was jumping up and down and like he was about to hyperventilate.  The conversation was a blur, I just remember him apologizing repeatedly, and insisting that he was okay before I comprehended that he'd been in a wreck.  I didn't even ask about the car, I didn't care about the car, that was something I could worry about later.  I had to ask him several times if he was sure he was okay, it was just something I needed confirmation and reassurance of.  At some point during the brief conversation, he did say again that he was okay, the car, not so much.  After finding out what road he was on, I told him I would get in touch with Brian and we would head over there immediately.

My coworker overheard my conversation and being a mother herself, knew that I needed to get to my son, that even though he assured me he was okay, it was a momma thing to want to lay eyes on him.  She was on the phone with another department, asking them to cover our office so she could take me to Steven, while I was still on the phone with him.  I was a tiny bit emotional, as I was worried more about Steven's anxiety than anything else.  We left and headed to the scene.  

This photo is only half of what I saw when we arrived on scene (I could see the entire driver's side of the car but the front end sustained the majority of the damage):

I knew, just from seeing this side of the car, that my car will be a total loss, and said "OMG my car is totaled."  Again, not caring about the car, but wondering in my head "how in the hell is my son okay after wrecking the car this badly?"  (You see, when he was panicking on the phone about the accident, and telling me the car was was damaged, I was imagining a ripped off bumper, or dented fender, or something relatively minor that probably wouldn't even require the filing of an insurance claim.  This was my assumption at the time, based on the fact that there was no one else involved.)  I started to tear up, but my coworker encouraged me to pull myself together and try to hold it in so that Steven wouldn't get more upset.  

I get out of the car, and Brian comes to me, waving my coworker off as she left to return to work.  He didn't have much to say, but really, what can you at the moment?  I walked over to Steven and he kept apologizing - I reminded him that he didn't have to apologize, that I didn't care about the car, it was him that was important and being that he was walking and talking, I was pretty sure he would be okay other than being really stiff and sore later. 

Then I walked around to the other side of the car and saw this:

Yeah, try looking at a caved in roof of the car your child just wrecked and see how well you maintain your composure. There were lots of tears at that point, but we made it brief as we had to deal with clearing out as much of our belongings that we could, and talking with the officer and tow truck operator.





Here's a couple other photos:

He had the windows down and his phone and eyeglasses (that were on his face) flew out the window.  A man in the house where the accident occurred saw the accident, and came out to check on Steven and call 911.  Steven asked him to help him find his phone - the man was incredulous that Steven would be worried about his phone after having this bad of a wreck, but Steven responded with "I've got to call my parents!"  So they found his phone and his glasses and there you have it.



We're not sure exactly what happened, Steven wasn't on his phone, wasn't messing with the radio, and wasn't speeding.  (and yes I believe him - my son has never lied to me about anything major in his life, he's always known being truthful is much less painful than lying and being found out later)  What we do know is that he crossed over the center line, all the way to the other side of the road, hit the ditch, and rolled over a driveway to the other side, and landed right side up in that ditch.  He got a trip to the emergency department to make sure there was nothing more than bumps and bruises, and we went home.



I've had a tough time, thinking of the "what if's", and I know I shouldn't torture myself with that.  I did that once before when Steven disappeared in a Wal-Mart, and cried on and off for days, worrying about what would have happened if someone had taken him.  But I'm doing it now, after looking at that car and all the damage that was done to it.  I'm just so very thankful that Steven ALWAYS wears his seatbelt, and he won't even crank the car until everyone inside has theirs buckled, too.  I'm thankful no one else was in the car when the accident happened, and I'm thankful that no other vehicles or major property was involved.



I know we have it so lucky, and are so blessed that he was able to walk away from this.  I know not all teens do.