I remember it like it was yesterday. March 3, 2013, I can remember every moment. The conversation that I was hearing, where I was, who I was with and what I was doing at that very moment. This is the one phone call that no one wants to get. Especially anyone who has children.
We were waiting in line at the Times Union Center waiting to see Miranda Lambert in concert. It was my husband and myself and some friends of ours as well who had been with us. We had floor seats, I couldn't wait. I was so excited as she is my favorite singer in country music. This special night was for our anniversary and my birthday wrapped up in one night. The night was going great. We had just come from dinner and we were now waiting in line to get into the venue. That is when my husbands cell phone had rang. It was our niece (who had been watching our younger daughters) so we thought it had been about our kids being bad (or so we thought) is why she was calling us.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the reason she was calling. She had called to tell us our oldest child (our son) was in a terrible car accident and flipped his car. The only words I remember hearing after that was “he flipped his car.” Then I feel all eyes in our party were all aimed at me. In my mind, my thoughts were racing. How did it happen? Is he ok? Was it a deer he was trying to swerve out of the way of? Does he need me? Is he hurt? Is he dead? Please, please just tell me he got out of the car.
We were 45 minutes from home and the weather was a bit nasty as we had been getting light snow flurries on and off all night, and it was wet snow, so there were patches of black ice on the roads at this time of year. So it's not like we were close to home, and I could get right to him if needed. I just wanted to know he was ok and they got him out of the car. Things can be replaced, people can't. Our friends that were with us, understood if we wanted to leave that very minute, they would completely understand.
I had talked to him briefly on the phone just to hear him tell me that he was ok and out of the car. He told us not to come home, and that he had a small cut on his wrist from the broken glass on his driver-side door. He also said that we would deal with it more when I got home. He assured me again that he was fine and not to come home. He told me to have fun.
I think after that phone call, I was numb. I felt guilty and was trying to have fun, but all I could honestly think about at that moment was getting home to my son. Yes, he was 17 but he will never not be my child. Along with my daughters too. They are all always going to be my babies. I do remember the concert and I did enjoy it, however, I felt guilty as if I should have been home, and I was having fun with my husband and friends. I just wanted to see for myself that he was ok. That was the longest 45 minute drive in my lifetime.
The roads were bad so I had to take my time in getting us home and safely as well. I just couldn't get home fast enough.
When I got home, I went right to my sons room to see if he was physically ok. He said he could take me in the morning to the clinic to see if he needed stitches in his cut on his wrist. He was tired by then, as it was late, and the adrenaline that he was coming down from was wearing off and making him tired. I was just thankful, he was home and in bed resting.
I had taken him to the clinic in the morning and they checked him out. All ok. The Dr. said he should have gotten stitches but it had been over the 24 hour mark so they couldn't do them now cause of infection and bacteria issues. So they washed it out and checked it for pieces of glass. Nothing, just a big band-aid and sent him home, and again told him he was very lucky.
What had happened was, he went to pick up a mutual friend of my niece, who was watching our girls that night. On his way home from picking up my niece's friend, Miranda, he had hit a patch of black ice and his back end of his car had began to slide. In addition, being a young driver, he was going a little to fast for the road conditions and lack of inexperience on the winding road he was on. As he went to correct the car, instead of tapping the brake to try to regain control, he had hit the gas in which cause the car to spin. It must have hit something when it was spinning because that is what caused the car to roll. It had rolled several times and ended up on its roof when it was done. Thankfully, a good samaritan came out to see if he was ok. Then also called the police. He had ended upside down in her horse field, and one of the fence posts had come through the back passenger window and right through his driver-side window, missing him completely. Nothing happened to the side that Miranda was sitting on. Nothing, not a dent, not a scratch, nothing. (She said later she was scared to look because she knew the fence post was in the car, and she didn't want to see Cole hurt or dead.) Thank god.
No alcohol was involved, but he did get a ticket for going to fast on that road and the conditions.
It took me awhile before I could even look at the pictures of the car and see it for myself. Even still to this day, the accident makes me teary eyed because I know how lucky I am.
I now do believe in guardian angels.
