We had a huge blizzard here last Sunday and early Monday morning. It was nasty and we even stayed home from church Sunday to avoid being out in it. Happy April Bitches! Montana at its finest. Monday morning, I woke to a call from the school... only the town kids were expected at school so I roused my babies and worked to get them ready. Dave waited until the sun was up before heading into work, to give the plows time to clear the highway. He has a 51 miles commute one way. Yeah, can you say oil boom area?
I spent ten years as a military wife. I made it through four deployments and three of those were war time. Only a military wife can really understand the feeling that comes when the phone rings a certain way and a chill goes up your spine and your heart speeds up. For no reason, there is no special ring, it's not a crazy time of the night......... you just know. There really are no words to describe that feeling. You get light headed and need to puke.
At 7:32 while gathering my kids to drive them to school, my phone rang. He'd been gone 31 minutes. It was him and I heard nothing, then the call dropped. I tried to call him back, nothing. It rang another three times and dropped before I could finally hear him: "police truck mile 18" that is it. Then the call dropped. I smiled at the girls and loaded them into the truck, dropped them at school like nothing was wrong and instantly headed for mile marker 18. It took me almost 40 minutes to make 18 miles in the ice and snow but I finally got there in 4x4.
I literally couldn't breathe as it all came into view. The ambulance, the cop cars, the firetrucks, the barriers set up to block traffic and there in the middle of a snowbank sitting on it's side with two wheels in the air, my husbands truck. There was debris everywhere and people everywhere. I couldn't tell you how I stopped the truck and started running (in houseshoes no less) through the snowbank toward the truck and the people when Dave peeled off from the pack running my way. He grabbed me and kept saying, I'm okay, Don't cry. I"m okay, Don't cry. Still couldn't breathe.
He literally had no scratch on him. Not one.
He was driving about 40 mph in a 70 mph slowly working his way into work. Coming in the other direction was a snowplow and the driver saw Dave's truck hit some ice and spin then flip. There is no phone signal on that stretch of highway so he used his CB to call in help. GOD IS GOOD people.
He said it happened fast and that he just prayed loudly. When it came to rest, he was hanging by his seatbelt. The airbags did not deploy. His doors were crunched shut, the windows frozen but the windshield had cracked so he used his steel toed boots to kick his way out of the cab. By the time he got out, the plow driver got to him.
Dave has not one scratch anywhere. He said that when the truck flipped it literally went gently and he didn't hit his head or anything. Said it felt like God's hand just cushioned the blow.
It's taken a few days before I could type this without a panic attack, sorry I didn't share earlier. I am not dealing with this well. I literally couldn't be out his sight all Monday. I just can't imagine my life without and I'm so very very thankful that God was by his side.
They totalled his truck, it's bad. But you know what, we are so blessed by far that who cares. We will get him another truck. We decided to take our time and get the right truck again, just in case....
Wear your seatbelt and have faith!
Friday, April 19, 2013
No Words -----
