Wow. It's been a day. I'll start off by saying this: hopefully no one will be upset with me for not contacting them directly, to have done so would be to put more drama to this than is necessary for the gravity of the situation. That said, I am FINE, however, I wrecked Autumn (the Durango) today.

I was going down a 55mph road around the speed limit, it was pretty bright out, and I didn't see the turn signal on a lady fast enough. I put on the brakes, skidding a bit and realized I wasn't going to get stopped so I did what I had to to go right around her. I got around her and if there had been field I would have been fine, but instead there was nice deep ravine like gutter... at least for a little ways and then hard ground where that gutter came to an end. I dropped into the gutter, slid along it, smacked into the end of it with the corner of the vehicle, bounced back and came out facing downward into it. Somehow Autumn had the ability to back up out of that and I got myself up, out of the roadway, and into a market across the way where I gathered myself.

I've been driving for more than half my lifetime now. I'm happy to say this was my first accident. I'm not looking forward to the bills involved, but I am just happy to say I am okay and that praised be to God I managed to get around the woman in the little tiny Neon sized vehicle without causing her any injury. I know I'm blessed.

Autumn is pretty banged up, like I said, but she took that beating quite solidly and kept me safe, so I thanked her and patted her front panel when tears welled again before they towed her away. The passenger side headlight is busted out and every panel going back is frelled. There was a gap in the rear door where I could see some light, and part of the rear bumper is ripped off. She's got one flat tire and didn't seam to be leaking anything, the airbags didn't deploy *likely due to the side/corner taking most of the impact* and the tow man didn't think she looked like she had a bent frame.

I was pretty shaken and hated having people gawk at me like I was a side show. To those people who gawked, pointed, and commented to others... up yours. To those strangers that took the time to come over, verify I was okay and didn't need anything, and offer a kind word or two - God bless you, whoever you are.

Right now I'm just happy to be home with my girls, as they were one of the first things I thought of. It was not an accident that could have cost me my life, but it did give me some pause for thought. Thank you to my friends who took my call, even when I sobbed a little, to try and get a couple phone numbers I needed, and for calling to make sure I was okay.

Now tomorrow... I'm sure I'll be sore, I'll be shocked if I'm not, but I'm okay. DESPITE tomorrow being seven years since some of the most painful things I've ever heard uttered came my way... I'm okay. It was a bit of a rough reminder Lord, but I guess I needed it.