Life Is in the Inches

Well, it’s been a little bit since I’ve posted. The pandemic did a whack job to my writing schedule even though I didn’t get COVID-19. Basically, the coronavirus screwed with my insides, and to be honest, I haven’t felt like writing. Slowly, I schedule writing time again…mostly devotionals so far. But, I thought this week’s blog was a good time to express my thankfulness. Thankfulness for my new job, my lovely cats (I have two now…I got Larry a pet named Thor), and for my life. I try to be thankful every day, but this longing was reinvigorated a few weeks ago when my car was hit by a semi-tractor trailer. Truly I tell you, life is in the inches

The Story

So, I was driving to work; I was scheduled at our satellite office, which requires some highway driving. I’ve been working on becoming a more relaxed driver (read “less aggressive,” insert laughter here).

I was in the second to the left hand lane on a five lane highway with construction along the entire shoulder (when are they going to finish? why isn’t anyone ever working in the construction zone?). A semi came off the express lanes into the left lane of the highway. I saw the big truck crouch the line, so I sped up a little. This is where I was too nice…usually I would honk and speed away, but I am trying to grow.

I sped up enough so that he could see me through the windshield. He skimmed over toward the lane line again only this time he didn’t stop. The cab hit the back corner of the driver’s side pushing my car over about a lane or so. I had no control over the inertia forcing me across the lanes, but I continued to move forward at highway speed.

No car was next to me.

There was a car that braked and honked in the neighboring lane; he was seconds away from coming up along side of my car. I think a few other cars honked as well. The semi moved back into his lane.

While I don’t know the story because he never stopped, my belief is that he fell asleep at the wheel and the semi-cab drifted over the lane line.

I got back into my lane, still at highway speed. My adrenaline surged as I tried to drive, get his plate number in my rearview mirror, and do a check on how the car was driving. Slowly, I made my way into the right hand lane but wasn’t able to pull onto a shoulder from several miles. I never saw him go past, so he must have taken an exit. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the plate with everything happening at once, especially because it was in the rearview mirror. I wanted to keep my eyes on the road.

While waiting for the police on the shoulder, I attended a work meeting via Google Teams (because I’m effing tough!).

I did okay until I had to leave a recorded statement for my insurance company later that day. Only then did it hit me how close this had been.

A family in a car next to me.

Another semi-tractor trailer in the lane next to me.

The cab hitting my wheel and rotating the entire front of the car in the direction of the moving semi…

Rotating the car in the direction of the moving semi.

I would be dead. If he had hit my wheel, I would be dead.

Life is in the inches.

I don’t really know if I would have died for sure, but the accident would have been a multicar pile-up with the subsequent impact consisting of an eighteen-wheeler slamming into my car at full speed.

Life is in the inches.

Every time I go to my car, I see the damage on the back…the broken bumper, the scraped and ripped quarter panel. And, I see the inches….the few inches which separate where he hit me from my wheel and axel. Inches.

My chest wall buckles with gratefulness as a two second montage of mangled car parts and ICU beeping blips through my brain. It could have been a very different holiday season.

2-3 inches.

Life is in the inches.

I feel confident that God still has something left for me to do.

Love, K.

PS- special thank you to my car, Melanie, for keeping me safe in the direst of circumstances <3. I didn’t have a scratch or a pulled muscle…nothing.

Author of Ten Iron Principles, Contributor in The Power to Make a Difference