It's a scary feeling...your kids going out the door on their own. It doesn't help knowing parents have been doing it since time began. You know...you KNOW...things can happen to your kids. You know it just takes a second...a blink of an eye...a tire on a wet road...
But you also know they can't grow up if you don't let them go when it's time. So you pray.
It's a scary feeling when you get that phone call..."Mom, I just had an accident." Your heart jumps, but right away you give thanks that you hear their voice...that it's them making the call - not someone else. If someone else makes the call...that's when you really start praying.
And when they get behind the wheel of a car for the first time...well, when my oldest got behind the wheel of a car for the first time...my prayers went up a few notches. It helps that I believe in angels. I believe there are more angels than we can imagine...enough that I don't feel guilty at all asking God for a squadron to escort my kids, especially if they are driving somewhere. I envision those angels surrounding the vehicle, prepared to cushion and protect it and my babies if necessary.
I believe they were there on a rainy day years ago when Tommy's car didn't make a curve, flew off the road into the trees, missed every one and landed on a pile of mulch, unharmed except for the car's flat tire. I believe they were there a year or so later when he was almost T-boned coming out of a parking lot by a speeding car. Tommy saw it just in time and accelerated; the car hit just behind the driver's seat. Again, no injuries, but the car was totaled.
I believe they were there a few years ago when a truck plowed head-on into Daniel's little Mazda. A friend had to deliver the news - I had left the house without my cell phone - but she was able to tell me Daniel was okay. Still, pulling up to that intersection...seeing the ambulance, the crunched Mazda, the smashed truck...that was tough. Daniel was sitting in the back of the ambulance, getting checked out. No injuries except a scratch on the nose from the airbag. Not even any burns.
And I believe they were there this morning when TG turned left on the wet road, the tires lost traction, the Suzuki Samurai spun, hit the curb and flipped, landing on the driver's side. No other vehicle hit her. Several pulled off to check on her; one man helped her out.
"Mom, I just had an accident..." She must have made the call while lying there on her side.
I was so grateful to hear her voice...so grateful for those angels.
