That Dreaded Phone Call

Mr. SIGIS and I had just finished a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse last night and had stopped into our favorite watering hole on BAFB for a nightcap before heading home.  Not long into my first Sam Adams we received "the phone call."  That one all parents dread:

"Mom!  I've been in a wreck!"

It's my Teenager who really isn't a teenager anymore - he turned 20 last month. 

He's fine.

The car - not so much.

We quickly gathered our belongings and dash out to the car and I'm on the cell phone with him asking all the standard questions:  Are you hurt?  Is anyone else hurt?  Was anyone with you?  Are the police on their way?  You know.

He's in a panic, of course.  "I need you here NOW!  NOW!  Hurry!" 

Fortunately, Barksdale AFB is about five minutes from where he was.  We were there in four.  As we drive over the Red River bridge, I can see the sirens and flashers and hear the horn blaring.  I see John standing in the intersection, off to the side a bit, on his phone, "I need you NOW!"  I told him to calm down, I had him in my eyesight and we were going to park the car. 

Shortly after we got there the EMS and the police arrived.

Poor thing.  He was really shaken up, but physically okay.  Thank God.

He was following a friend over the bridge to another friend's house when someone made a left turn in front of him way too close for John to stop in time.  He slammed on the brakes and swerved but it was too close.  His driver airbag and the passenger airbag deployed and the driver's side window shattered.  The front end is not really crushed but definitely dented and bent.  The other car had a major crush on the passenger door.  Luckily nobody was hurt.

And me, all I could think about (after checking him over for injuries) was how in the world am I going to get this kid to school next week?  He drives about six miles across town to college every day.  True, this is not a huge problem, but you don't think clearly at times like this.

I'm so grateful for Mr. SIGIS who is retired law enforcement and knows how to keep a cool head about things and how to work a scene.  He dealt with the EMS and the police officers.  We got the car towed (I even gathered the presence of mind to get John's backpack out of it, because remember, I'm all focused on the school thing.)

I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a picture of his little Ford Contour to show you, but pictures for the blog weren't exactly at the top of my list at the time.

One other blessing, besides John's escape from injury, was that two very kind ladies witnessed the accident and stopped to tell the police what they saw.  One of them said the fellow nearly hit her when he turned (four lane street), and the other said she saw John's back tires lift off the ground when he made impact.  OMG.

So grateful for them stopping to check on him and to talk to police!

After all was sorted out Mr. SIGIS insisted we take John to get checked out because he was beginning to feel the aches and pains.  We spent a couple of hours at the ER, got x-rays done, and all is well.  They gave him a little scrip for some pain meds and sent him home to bed.

Of course, today is Saturday and you can't get an insurance agent, find out where the car is, or get anything moving on this, so I had to call a sub and take Monday off to get this worked out. 

Meanwhile, today is Mr. SIGIS's birthday!  He's older than me now for seven months.  So, pictured above, instead of John's wrecked car, is our friend Red who gave him some birthday pie at breakfast this morning (at George's Grill.)

I'm counting my blessings today.