Life Teaches Lessons, but There’s No Rule that We Only Learn Them While at School!

Last night we put the girls to bed and suddenly there was a horrible crash outside and then the sound of shrieking. First, I'll say no one died, but we went outside to see that a fast-traveling downhill car had hit my husband's car head on, totaling both cars.

The driver was a high school sophomore, in her new car, headed over to a friend's to drop off a school assignment. She had had her very first date that night, and she was euphoric. And it's a miracle she walked away. Thank God for seat belts; thank God for airbags.

The crash occurred because her cell phone rang and she looked down at it to read the caller ID. 

Her parents are the luckiest people in the world. You wouldn't believe what the two cars looked like. The worst injury was her dad who ran so fast after he got the call that he tripped and fell.

We obviously had to put our girls back to bed after all the hullabaloo. Eva (7) said, "Mom, who was it calling on her cell phone?" Hattie (8) said, "I'll bet her parents were the maddest they've ever been but also the happiest they've ever been." Praised for her perception, Hattie stacked on, "And I'll bet the best night of her life turned into the worst night of her life."

And I had just posted that I thought I'd gotten an F, only to read later that Mrs. Schuur gave me an A. So many lessons in one night, and not just in Global Studies. When I saw that precious 16-year-old, sobbing in her parents' arms, I couldn't help think about all my new buddies at school. As an impostor peer, and also as a mother of two daughters, I just keep thinking that at every moment in life, we have to do the right thing.

So, on the way to the bus this morning, we reviewed with the girls the lessons we learned last night (we were all in the car together because we now only have one car):

1. HATTIE: You can be mad at someone and still love her/him.
2. EVA: Little things can become big things.
3. HATTIE: The best of times can quickly become the worst of times.
4. EVA: It doesn't matter who is on the phone when you're driving.
5. JOHN: Things don't matter, people do.
   
6. JAYE: Count your blessings and hold your family close.
7. JOHN: Seat belts and airbags work. 
8. JAYE: Wait until you get your grade before you publish your own conclusion.

Amen, sisters!