Close Calls

When we lived in California, we did quite a bit of flying to and from Ohio to visit family. One such unforgettable time, we were coming in to land at the airport in Columbus. We were close enough to the ground that we could see cars and stuff below us. Then all of a sudden, the plane pulled up really hard. The engines were as loud as I’ve ever heard them on a  plane and the whole thing shook with the effort. As passengers, we had no idea what was happening. I don’t recall the captain or any of the crew making announcements to explain or being worried. We were all just curious. My dad was there to pick us up and it turns out that he saw the whole thing from the ground. This must’ve been before 9/11 because he wouldn’t have been able to see from baggage claim. Anyway, he told us that they almost landed us on top of another plane. When the plane pulled up at the last second, he said that black smoke poured out of the engines. That’s how fast and how hard we went back up to avoid what could possibly have been a deadly situation. It’s hard to be traumatized by something that I didn’t see or even realize was going on at the time, but that’s probably as close to death as I’ve ever come.

Since living here in North Carolina, the Mister and I have come extremely close to being involved in very bad car accidents. The head on collision with the Mustang that I blogged about a while back (Sorry. I’m too lazy to find and link to the post.) was extremely scary. This weekend, however, was the worst. Once again, we were on route 17 on the way to Greenville. It started raining pretty good just as the forecast had predicted. Suddenly, the car two cars in front of us hit water in the road and completely spun out. Ironically, it was another Mustang. The car spun and hit two other cars, her hood flew off and landed on the opposite side of the road, and she headed straight for us. I will never in a million years forget the sight of that red sports cars spinning so fast that we lost count of how many doughnuts she turned and watching knowing that she was going to hit us and there was nowhere we could go. Then, she hit the ditch and with the rain softening the earth, she finally came to a stop deep in the mud. The driver who was maybe 18 years old, got out of her car shortly after the Mister ran up to her and her passenger to see if they were okay. I was amazed that anyone could get out of that car on their own steam. I had told the girls to stay in the car and not to look because that was how bad the accident seemed. The other cars she hit, one was totalled and the other one had some pretty good front end damage but it had landed in the ditch too and can probably be fixed. Miraculously, everyone involved was not seriously hurt. The girl was eventually taken away by ambulance because her back was sore, and while I haven’t heard anything, I’m pretty sure she’s okay. She was walking around and stuff before she realized that she was in pain. I managed to hold it together enough to tell 911 where we were. That was my first 911 call too, by the way. It rang three times before they answered and it seemed like a lifetime. I felt so bad for that girl. Her car, what was left of it, was a mangled heap and she’s probably going to end up with a few citations. The funny thing, the 911 operator asked me if we were on north or southbound 17. I don’t know directions when I’m not shaking half to death, lol. Also, the lady whose yard we all ended up in, came out of her house in her pajamas and was worried that people would notice, lol. The things people worry about.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my weekend. Well, the oldest is grounded again,but that’s hardly exciting news anymore. She spends more time grounded than ungrounded these days.