Staff writer
Sometimes bad things happen to us, and we can overlook our good fortune. Saturday was such a time for me.
I was driving from Hillsboro to Marion around 5:30 p.m. when I reached the bridge on the west edge of Marion. I saw a sheriff’s department car coming from the other direction with its lights on, so I attempted to slow down and pull over — emphasis on attempted.
I lost control and began to fish-tail because the bridge was icy. I was terrified that I was going to have a head-on collision with the patrol car, so I overcorrected to my right, hitting the railing.
Deputy Duane McCarty stopped and made sure I was safe before continuing on to another accident. He told me another deputy would arrive shortly.
As badly as I was shaken up, it felt like an eternity before Deputy Travis Wilson arrived, but it really wasn’t long. I was grateful that he wasn’t condescending — the last thing I wanted right then was a lecture on safe driving.
An emergency medical technician checked me for injuries at the scene. Finding none, she advised me that I would probably be sore when I woke up Sunday.
I was OK, and I was able to drive my damaged car home. But my Saturday — which was going so well until then — was ruined.
I woke up Sunday morning, happy to find I wasn’t sore, and I was able to appreciate how fortunate I was. I crashed my car on an icy bridge, and I walked away from it without even a bruise. I found out later that there was a fatal crash around the same time west of Marion.
Thinking of it in that light will make it a lot easier to deal with the cost of fixing my car.