I’ve never seen a wreck like that before…
I was driving home from work. I exited Fielder from I30 and turned left onto Lamar. About 50 yards after my turn, I was diverted by a police officer. This was very close to the house and I was planning on taking a walk, so I rolled my window down and asked the officer if it would be okay for me to walk this way once I got home. He somberly shook his head and said, “No mam. There was fatality accident down there.”
Right away, I called Wade, hoping that he didn’t decide to come home for lunch and there was a chance that he was involved. I tried to play it calm, but I told him about the accident and he responded, “Well, I’m alive.”
I turned around and got back on I30 to exit further down on Eastchase. As I took a right onto Lamar from the opposite end of where the officer was, I decided to pass the turn into Brighton Village and check out what happened. Why? I don’t know. It could have been a neighbor, it could be the old couple I see walking every morning…I just needed to go down there.
Sure enough, as I pulled up to the first stop sign heading east on Lamar, I could see a damaged car and 2 police cars. I had to turn around there and head back. It was such a weird place for an accident. It was right past a stop sign on the west-bound side of Lamar. I would never imagine an accident there. I kept trying to figure out how the cars hit each other.
When I got home, I finished my work reports, had lunch, played with the dogs, made some phone calls, and after about an hour, I changed into my work out clothes for a walk. I thought that surely by this time, the accident would be cleared away.
As I made my way over the first hill, I could still see orange cones and now, there was a tow truck there. As I got closer and closer I was able to make out what was formerly a car. I’ve never seen a twisted pile of metal like that before. I stared in shock. Again, I tried to piece together what must have happened. Where was the other car? Which directions were they heading. From my perspective, as a passerby, there was no clear evidence to suggest what had happened.
I kept walking.
When I got to the top of the hill, I was relieved to see a female officer had taken the place the of man that had told me not to walk that way earlier. She was picking up the orange cones that put me on my detour and I asked her, “Was it only the one car involved down there?”
She nodded yes.
I got to my turnaround spot at Fielder and Lamar and started heading back in the direction I had come. I knew the officers were leaving and I be able to look a little more closely at what had happened where I had seen the car earlier.
I only noticed a giant white mark in the middle of the road, where the car had been laying…I’m guessing upside down. There were tire marks going into the yard on the corner and the giant oak tree had some missing bark. Other than that, there was no sign that someone had lost their life there.
This morning, a mother and father had a son/daughter. A sibling had a brother/sister. Somebody had a best friend. Now, that person is gone. This is just another in the long string of somber reminders that I’ve had lately to cherish every moment. Life is so fragile and it’s way to short to be sad, regretful, tired or lonely.
Be safe!!!
Blessings.