November 5th, 2017. A.K.A the day my life flashed before my eyes.

It was a normal Sunday morning. I was back at my parents' place for the weekend and I woke up and ran through my routine for getting all my things ready to head back to my apartment. Nothing was unusual and I sure as hell did not think my life would change. But that's what they always say, isn't is? They say that it always comes when you least expect it.

My family had gone to mass at our local parish earlier that morning and since I had been up late that previous night, they let me sleep in. So, I got my things together and packed my car. I called my dad on the road to let him know I was heading back and thanked him for everything he and mom have been doing for me.

You know how in the movies, the really dramatic scenes are usually outside in the rain? This was exactly that. I just did not know it. The rain was coming down pretty hard and the expressway traffic was going about a steady 80 miles an hour. There was a semi-truck in the lane next to me. I went to go hang up my call and put my phone down. Next thing I know I corrected a swerve and I was spinning 360 degrees out of control. The first thing my car hit was at least 80 miles an hour and it was the median rails to prevent me from crossing the median. I tried to regain control of my car, but it was too late. I was freaking out in total shock as I watched parts fly off the side of my car as I was hitting the rails. This is still not over. I was then struck by the sedan behind me at 80 miles an hour which caused me to spin faster out of control across the rest of the lanes of the expressway. The semi-truck acted as a trampoline; bouncing me back and forth between the median rails, the sedan, and the truck.

There was this moment that I never had before, a moment that I never thought I would have to think about. That moment became my reality and my reality instantly became that I really was going to die. I had no choice. I had no choice but to accept that this really was my reality. No, I didn't tell myself I had to accept it, I just did. I knew it. It was immediately at that moment that my entire life of almost twenty-one years had flashed before my eyes. Instantaneously everyone I love, anyone I had ever had feelings for, my entire family, each and every person in my family, my best friends, my first love, my first kiss, my first time riding a bike, my earliest birthday celebration, the day my siblings were all born, the good memories and the bad memories, my pain, my tears, my hard work, the best and the worst times of my life all came gushing in and it surrounded me.

I was not ready and I knew that. I was not ready to die or face my final judgment day. I remembered something that a very wise priest friend told me once. He told me to always call out to Mary to be a mother to me right at the specific time I am in need of a mother. So I did. I called out and she surrounded me in her mantle, and Jesus surrounded me. They surrounded me with angels and grace and saints and protection and they took my fear away. They not only surrounded me but they also surrounded every single person on the road. They surrounded the other victims of the crash. They kept everyone from all injuries. I have never in my entire life been a part of something so devastating yet something so incredibly miraculous.

Once it stopped and I gathered myself to realize that my new reality was that I was somehow alive, I rejoiced. But then as I faced towards traffic I noticed all the damage that had been done and saw the vehicle that I was facing. It was also wrecked. I immediately pulled the strength together to push myself out of my car and run towards this car. At that point, my new reality was that I didn't know if there were any survivors. That was a whole other level of scary s**t. I have to say that there has never been a moment in my entire life that I have felt more thankful than when I found out that everyone involved in the crash was alive and not injured. There were 2 sedans, me and the truck. I prayed and prayed throughout the entire rest of that day, thanking Christ for everything he did to save us.

I found out later that day that I peed myself. My life as I knew it, was over. Yet, it isn't. I am alive. Everyone from that day is alive. And God is so good!

So what is next? Prayer. Patience. Persistence. I pray in Thanksgiving. I have to be patient for healing. And I have to be persistent is getting myself back to "normal" (whatever that was).

Amen.