So this weekend was rough. Hubby and I went to visit my parents about 5 hours south of here. We were enjoying a fun evening, hanging out with them, drinking wine, when my phone rang. It was after midnight, so I expect it might me some friend drunk-dialing me. I glance at the caller ID, and it is my best-friend’s sister, we will call her U. Now U, NEVER calls me. Nothing personal, we are just not close friends or anything. So I answer the phone with a tentative “Hello?” And all I hear is screaming and crying and someone saying “Zoe, it’s “Sarah” (not her real name), it’s Sarah….” And I am thinking that U is telling me Sarah is dead. I start freaking out, “what the hell is happening, what is going on???” Then U takes the phone and tells me that Sarah and “Dave” have been in an accident and they are on the way to the hospital. Sarah is OK, just in a lot of pain, and they will call me back. So, I immediately call Dave, who I consider my other best friend, and my husband’s. They were our Maid of Honor and Best Man at our wedding. He answers his phone and is crying and tells me he has to call me back. Now Dave is the all around, Mr. America, he is a pilot, he plays hockey for 2 teams, qualified for Olympic skiing, Mr. Healthnut, strong, healthy tough man, as you can imagine, hearing him in tears just about brings me to my knees. This whole time my parents are staring at me in disbelief as I am sobbing hysterically trying to get someone to tell me what has happened. About 30 minutes later, Dave calls, still crying. They were turning left onto a city street leaving work heading to a restaurant. The street they were on has a 35mph speed limit, and is about 2 miles from my home. The street they were turning onto has a 30mph speed limit. Just as they turned, with no oncoming traffic, on an unprotected left, Sarah screamed. Dave glanced over and saw a car heading for them, and at the last minute, turned the wheel. The car that hit them was estimated to have been going between 80 and 90 MPH. The police told Dave that the only reason Sarah did not die, is because of his last minute turn of the wheel, which allowed them to go spinning  instead of her door taking 100% of the impact. Their car was thrown, about 50 yards into a light pole and they came to a halt on a grassy hill on the other side of the road. Sarah blacked out, and when she came to, she had been pulled from the car, and their was a paramedic performing CPR on a child next to her. The child died. He was not wearing a seat belt, and flew from the back seat to the windshield. The other two occupants of the vehicle were injured, but released from the hospital. Dave and Sarah were in the hospital until the next morning. Because Dave was turning on an un-protected left, he has been charged with negligent homicide, but so has the other driver for excessive speed. The investigator said that the other driver never even touched the breaks, and was possibly under the influence of alcohol. We immediately left my parents, and drove the 5 hours to see them. They are ok, in a lot of pain, but OK. Sarah has a broken shoulder, lots of cuts and bruises, a black eye, her foot went through the speaker in the side of the door and is messed up. Dave is just really sore, and had whiplash. All for no reason. An 18 year old kid, possibly drinking, driving 80 or 90 mph on a 35 mph street at 10:15 at night. And now, a child dead.

Obviously it has been tough. Seeing Sarah so hurt was hard, but what was harder was hearing Dave crying on the phone, telling me he thought his wife was dead, and that he just watched a child die. Nothing will ever be the same for them or the other family. Today is the first day I have not cried telling this story. The first time they told me the child died, I was physically ill….it was just too much. A nightmare… It all happened in a blink of en eye. So all I can ask for is your prayers for the families, for the understanding that Dave is the kindest, most compassionate man, and does not deserve to be held liable for this, and please for God’s sake, go the fucking speed limit, buckle up yourselves AND your children, and don’t drink and drive.

Zoe