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Oh my Miss Marple,

I am so sorry.

The other morning, I slammed my own vehicle into a tree. You all, (ATRW participants) likely do not know this, but I have a CDL or Commercial Drivers License.) I am a seriously professionally trained truck driver, but I do not any longer, work as a driver. I used to moonlight quite a bit as a trucker for years, but those days are long gone.

Last Saturday, I wrecked my car. Mostly it was due to snowy conditions, which I underestimated. When I went into that skid, there was another car, coming the opposite way toward me. I do indeed know how to recover from a skid. I had good teachers, so long ago, back at the Army AIT school, at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

I simply was unable to turn the steering wheel. It might have meant the death of some anonymous person to me. I had to let go of the situation, and I sort of was (for a brief instant) annoyed at myself for doing that. After all, ain't I the owner of the road?

Once the other car passed me, it was too late for me to control the slide, that I found myself in. I could have easily done such a thing a moment earlier, if only that other car had not been there at that exact moment.

Who knows who was in that vehicle? Perhaps a future friend, perhaps a neighbor. I then saw the tree, looming closer, and I mentally braced myself for the impact which was clearly inevitable. I see now that I have had more than one interlude with a tree in my life. I am not wanting to wax philisophical just now, here in this place.

I slammed into it with great force. My velocity was much greater than the result of any aggression on my part. The Law of Gravity, is much more influential on my car, than my pedal, and foot control ever could have been. I simply lost control of the vehicle, and I had no other option, than to just sit there and ride that thing out.

BANG! I still feel the aches. I was a bit injured as a result of the crash. I am hurting a little, and my ego is the most greatly bruised part of me.

Meanwhile, back at your note, which impelled me to comment without hesitation. I have worked in the transportation business for just about all of my adult life. I have seen so many people walk away from such incredibly horrible acidents. I swear, it is unbelievable, what people sometimes live through.

When I was in the Army, I actually held the role of Safety NCO for a time. I never made it to the true rank of NCO, but the Army don't care about certain protocols, in certain ways. I was the person (for a time) who was responsible (in my Battalion) for reporting on Vehicle Accidents, and other such things.

OMG, you would not believe what certain young men have walked away from without injury. The wrecks that I have seen defy description. Those kids walked away from unspeakable physical destruction from events which occurred while moving great weight at more than human speed. It was simply at times unbelievable to behold such things, yet I did, on more than one occasion.

Anyhow, the other day, I wrecked my car. I was simply driving too fast for the road conditions, 25 MPH can be so reckless at times.

A tree saved my life, and possibly the lives of anonymous others. If that tree were not there, I likely would have slid a bit futher down. I could have slammed into a car or two just beyond, and if that, my vehicle would have probably flipped, and I would have been inverted, and likely been very greatly wounded. More likely I would have been bloodied, and upside down. It is possible that I might have been killed because of that other possible impact. I am very serious about these things.

I almost lost my life, last Saturday morning, at about 10:40 A.M.!

I am greatly humbled by what happened. I sense that God, or the Universe, wants me to learn from certain things.

I am so trying to learn!

Radix, I'm so happy your accident did not involve others and that you are all right.

MM and Coopster, My heart aches for those people, literally.

Many years I was in the car of a friend when the road changed from pavement to loose stone. A split second and he lost control of the car and his life.

At that time seat belts were not in cars or at least they were not mandatory. I was thrown outside the car, but I had no serious injuries other than permanent back pain.

A few years later my first husband was killed in a car accident.

Believe me...I know how precious those split seconds are.

Bless you.