My Kids Were in a Head-On Collision With My In-Laws

The blessing in disguise that came from the incident

Photo by Kiwihug on Unsplash

“Today. Love a little deeper, laugh a little louder, and hug your loved ones a little tighter.” — Unknown

Upstairs while getting ready, my apple watch began to buzz. My daughter was calling. I hate talking to anyone through my watch because it’s hard to hear.

So, I ran down the stairs to get to my phone before it was too late.

My girls were on their way home from their annual trip with my in-laws to June Lake, which is tucked away in the Mammoth Mountains.

Each summer my husband’s parents take my two daughters and their two cousins up to the lake for about 4–5 days. They all have a blast being together and look forward to this trip.

After flying down the stairs and trying to get my short legs to move as fast as possible, the phone stops buzzing. Damn!

I call back right away but it goes straight to voicemail.

My husband was upstairs in his office and I could hear him on the phone.

“WHAT??!”, was all I could decipher while walking back upstairs.

Panic set in. His voice worried. I started to cry before I even knew what was going on.

“Where are you guys?”

Why would he ask that question? I am motioning hand signals to him, waving around, and thinking, “Just look at me, say something to me!”

He tells her to remain calm and we’d be on our way.

Finally, he puts my daughter on speaker. His face was white and in shock.

“Mom, we were in a bad car accident and are waiting for the ambulance to pick us up.”

I burst into silent tears. My husband takes over the communication. I don’t want her to hear the panic in my voice when she is obviously already panicking.

She vaguely explains what happens and that she needs to go help the rest of the family. My older daughter seems to be the passenger that escaped any pain, or so we thought.

The ambulance arrives and they are headed to Barstow Community Hospital. Great, Barstow.