Tuesday, March 10, 2009

D is thankful for guardrails.

February 21,

..i was on my way to another Fundraiser..this one in Three Oaks hosted by Shirley called "The Other Side Show" it was held for Burners without Borders.


my post on face book.



Danielle is thankful for guardrails..they saved my life today on i-94!

hey everyone....i am ok...little sore, tad frayed and regretting very much that my trip was cut short. I am very thankful that my passengers are ok (ro has a goose egg on her knew Clark saw it coming and Relaxes !!) , that i was able to manuever the jeep (from now on she has earned her name as the Beast!)in order that it impact was on my side.

short story shorter...

driving West on 94 roads blew..whole state blews..on way to fundraiser for Burners without borders. Trying to get to Marshal to meet Dixon.

White S10 in front 10 car lengths start to swerve i start to hit brakes as i determine where to go ...where all of this is happened there is already a car in the left ditch, an ambulance IN the fast lane Stopped lights on ( i saw lights Ro said it was stopped ..dumb ass pull the fuck over..) guessing the Ambulance paniked everyone as car in from of truck slammed brakes sending truck into the spinning ballet in front of me. another SUV was to my immediate and front right...

no car were behind me... i told Ro and Clark we were going to have impact and i headed for the guardrail on the right of the road..trying to ease a fear i have had since i was a child of guardrails when i learned Craig Castle went over one and passed away. I could see over the guardrail...it went over Race Road...it was a long way down and i was kinda wishing i had gone to the left and taken my chances with the other car.

i held tight to the wheel and keep spinning it so as to not hit it head one...the jeep side impacted it facing the wrong way in traffic so that my side was hit then bounced off and spun around again to face the correct way in the slow lane. i asked Ro and Clarke if they were ok...reality starts to set in.
i drove the jeep to the side of the road then decided to get in front of hte ambulance on the other side of the road as i saw her watching it all. I did that and got out with my camera that was sitting next to me.

she told me to stay in my car and asked if we were ok. or needed any thing they said yes. i went to talk to the white truck who had pulled in front of me and he was rattled as was i..(oh did i neglect to mention i had eatten a cacao bean like 5 minutes before this...so shock from accident and PURE cacao. im a tad jacked)

we look at him damage i ask if i hit him when i spun he thinks not...he thinks he hit rail too no green on his truck. i give him my number as he is not staying he has to get back to school. (yes i neglected to get him info) but the back of his truck was filled with bags of rock salt. he told me the cars in front of him paniked when the ambulance pulled over...starting this lovely chain reaction.

i turn around to talk to ambulance driver and they are gone. yup! did they even talk to this kid? not sure..mind you said he was ok..
i was not about to talk to the car wayyy in the ditch and the jeep still drove so i decided to see how far.

Hence the name of the Beast as she is still driving. well not even 10 miles away theres a stat copper directing everyone off the Eway into Jackson..NOT a good sign. Clark saw cars being pulled by tow trucks toward a pile of other cars..eee
I called Dixon gave him 411. he was in Marshall I was still over 30 miles way. i told him i would call right back as i could see roads signs to 94W as cars were following a semi. . Shock was setting in. i asked Ro & Clark for executive decisions the were ok either way..apologized for being indecisive but said we were closer to home then destination.

i called dixon back and told him we were heading home. he understood and we wished each other well. It took us another 3 hours to get back to there place and it had taken us 1.5 to get that far. The ditches were littered with cars, we saw some go in and actually saw one drive out yelling encouragment to him the whole time!!

go bucky..he looked like a determined country boy and his Nascar dreams may have just paid off! Pain was starting to set in, Ros knee was hurting. i called Shirley to give her the bad news. She reminded me of arnica i made Clark get it out of my back and give it to Ro along with Tea Tree for her knee.
I got them home about 4pm.

my drive home was well over an hour, i was happy to get there and happy i had stopped at a grocer early in the day. i ate and laid on the couch and that was about all she wrote after i cried for a bit from the reality of it and the disappointment of it even though i was grateful how it turned out. Ro sent me this link....which makes me think my "Guardian" Angel was fast at work..Rosey has sent you a link: "COMMUTER ALERT: 50 Car Pile-Up Closes I-94 In Jackson http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/18767063/detail.html?taf=det

part of me may always regret having not gone esp since Dixon said the roads cleared by Battlecreek but we would have never known that

even though it was only like 20 miles away from Marshall. and that is something i have to deal with right now as i try to find peace with my choice while in shock. I know deep down i made the right choice esp as i had passengers. getting them home safe was necessary.

Dixon made Three Oaks time we had wanted to. Other friends got lost and had to deal with bad weather too coming from Chicago and were late to the party..i was probably asleep before they did.

I sincerely hope the event went well despite the weather and that everyone had a great time.

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